cannabisnews.com: King Opposes Medical Marijuana, Late-Term Abortion





King Opposes Medical Marijuana, Late-Term Abortion
Posted by FoM on October 06, 1999 at 13:59:05 PT
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe
Augusta, Maine Gov. Angus King said Wednesday he will vote against citizen-initiated referendum questions seeking a late-term abortion ban and allowing marijuana use for medical purposes. 
King said the medical marijuana proposal would put Maine on a ''slippery slope'' leading to wider use of the drug. In California, he said, a similar law has ''really opened the door to abuse.'' The governor said the late-term abortion ban addresses a procedure that is rarely used in Maine, and that the government has no business interfering in decisions between a woman and her doctor. King was questioned on the two citizen-initiated ballot issues during a wide-ranging briefing with reporters. He has given no indication he will actively participate in the public debate over the questions, which will be decided Nov. 2. He said he was troubled by the marijuana proposal because federal law would continue to bar use of the drug, creating a legal conflict in Maine. And passage would come as drugs continue to be a problem in many schools, he said. Acknowledging he used marijuana decades ago, King said he has met with many of the proposal's supporters and finds them to be ''absolutely sincere'' about allowing someone to have some marijuana if a doctor can document that a grower has any of several illnesses or believes it would help a patient. But King said that for other supporters, ''this is a first step toward the ultimate legalization of marijuana.'' His own use was limited to ''one or two occasions when I was in college,'' said King. ''Yes, I inhaled. It was more than 30 years ago.'' King said he agrees with the Maine Medical Association, which is concerned because doctors would have to approve use of a substance without knowing how toxic or potent it is. Mainers for Medical Rights, which supports passage, said King's statement came as no surprise. A spokesman for the group, Craig Brown, acknowledged that a Maine medical marijuana law like those in seven other states that have passed similar initiatives would conflict with federal statutes. But Brown said the federal government has declined to prosecute patients who use marijuana under state sanctions in those other states since last year. Brown also cited federal figures he said refute King's suggestions that a medical marijuana law would lead to increased use of other illegal drugs. He referred to a 1998 national survey showing drug use among teens was down. A breakout of drug use in two states with medical marijuana laws showed drug use stayed about the same in California and was down slightly in Arizona, said Brown. ''A law that covers dying and seriously ill people sends a message to kids that helping sick patients with the right medicine isn't a green light for experimenting or illegal use'' of drugs, said Brown. On the abortion question, the first to appear on the ballot, King said there is ''no evidence'' late-term abortion ''is a problem in this state,'' where he said the procedure has only been performed once or twice in the last 15 years. He also said government should not interfere in private medical decisions. ''I just think that decision is best left in a relationship between a physician and her patient,'' the governor said. A supporter of the abortion proposal took issue with King's views, saying medical records are not clear on how often the procedure sometimes described as partial birth abortion has been performed. ''How can you say it's done rarely when you're not even tracking how often it's done?'' said Mary Jo Sharma of Maine Women Stopping Partial Birth Abortion. ''The government helps to regulate the safety of all sorts of consumer products and devices. We don't see this as any different,'' said Sharma, adding, ''We don't think this will interfere with our right to choose'' whether to have abortions. King said he favors passage of all five bond issues on the ballot, which total $154 million. They include $56 million for highways and bridges; $12.5 million for environmental projects; $9.4 million for digital broadcasting equipment for Maine Public Broadcasting; $26.4 million for the technical college system and $50 million for land conservation and access. 10/06/99 15:47© Copyright 1999 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc.Mainers For Medical Rightshttp://www.mainers.org/Polls Show Support for Proposal to Allow MMJ Use - 9/22/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2975.shtml Medical Pot Use Up to Maine Voters - 9/20/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2956.shtml
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