cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Law Leaves Patients Vulnerable





Medical Marijuana Law Leaves Patients Vulnerable
Posted by FoM on February 12, 2001 at 07:21:48 PT
By Dieter Bradbury, Portland Press Herald Writer
Source: Portland Press Herald
When he wants to sleep, Leonard Ellis of New Vineyard smokes marijuana to ease the pain of his muscular dystrophy. Charles Wynott of Portland puffs on a joint to relieve the nausea caused by his AIDS medications. And Carroll Cummings of Vassalboro uses pot to manage the agony of spinal disease.Maine's medical marijuana law, endorsed by an overwhelming majority of voters in a 1999 referendum, was supposed to shield people like these from state prosecution for using an illegal drug. 
Yet all three men face possible fines or jail time for marijuana possession or cultivation charges. Elizabeth Beane, director of Mainers for Medical Rights, says the federal government is an impediment to the state's medical marijuana law being properly implemented. Their plights shed light on the unresolved conflicts and challenges embedded in the controversial law.Sick people say the measure imposes unrealistic conditions on their possession and cultivation of the drug. Doctors are reluctant to recommend it to their patients because of legal or medical concerns. And those who campaigned for the law say federal prohibitions against marijuana continue to hobble its medicinal use."If the federal government would get out of the way and let the doctors work on the issue with patients, then it could be made available in truly legal ways," said Elizabeth Beane, director of Mainers for Medical Rights.Maine voters passed the medical marijuana law by a solid 61-39 percent margin, making this the ninth state that has legalized medicinal use of the drug.Under the law, a person is exempt from state prosecution if he or she is using pot for symptoms associated with cancer therapy, AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy and diseases that cause severe muscle spasms.The condition must be diagnosed by a doctor who provides continuous care to the patient and recommends the use of marijuana in writing. Also, a patient may possess no more than 1.25 ounces of processed marijuana and six live plants.No one knows how many residents have obtained doctors' recommendations and supplies of marijuana since the law passed. There is no patient registration requirement.Beane, a licensed clinical social worker from Gorham, says she knows of several AIDS patients who obtained the approval of their doctors and regularly use marijuana. She says the law is working well for people who have a supportive physician and a trusted marijuana supplier."But for people who have these fringe issues, it's not working so well," she said.Among those on the fringe are the three men who are facing possible drug prosecution. Wynott, the Portland man with AIDS, has a note recommending marijuana use that was written by a doctor in Florida, where he lived until April. But the note is not valid under Maine law.Wynott says he hasn't been able to find a doctor here who is willing to act as his primary care physician."I do know doctors that have written notes (recommending medical marijuana for their patients)," he said. "There's a handful of them, but they aren't accepting new patients."During the referendum campaign, the Maine Medical Association opposed the law. It has since issued an advisory, offering to support doctors who believe their patients could benefit from marijuana. But the advisory also notes that doctors are not obligated to write notes.Ellis, 62, a muscular dystrophy patient, and Cummings, 53, who has torticollis, a rare condition that causes spinal deterioration, were able to get recommendations from their doctors.They were arrested because they had more marijuana at their homes than the law allows.Cummings' lawyer, Patricia Danisika-Washburn of Skowhegan, admits that her client had 29 plants and three-quarters of a pound of marijuana in his possession. She says he has to grow that much marijuana in the summer to get him through the winter because growing inside is expensive and difficult. David Sanders, a lawyer who represents Ellis, says many people who qualify under the law are too disabled to cultivate the plants and can't afford the equipment needed indoors.And it's neither legal nor realistic, Sanders says, to expect an older person in poor health to go to a street corner or back alley and buy black-market marijuana from a dealer."The problem with the statute is, it's unworkable," he said. "They expect you to walk this tightrope of continuous and year-round cultivation."Dr. Owen Pickus, a Portland physician who specializes in the treatment of infectious diseases, says he has been able to treat his AIDS patients effectively without recommending marijuana.Pickus says he would write a note supporting marijuana use if the medical circumstances dictated it, and he knows other doctors who have done so. But Pickus notes that doctors who recommend marijuana could be in danger of losing their federal licenses to prescribe scheduled drugs.Another physician who treats AIDS patients, Dr. Robert Smith of Portland, says many doctors are uncomfortable recommending marijuana because they can't be sure of its purity or the risks of its interaction with other medication.Observers agree that the major barrier to progress is the federal government's failure to reclassify marijuana. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration continues to list it as a "schedule one" drug, meaning it has no therapuetic value.Pickus says there is ample scientific evidence that marijuana works to alleviate certain symptoms. Some components of pot's active ingredient, he adds, have been marketed legally in pill form."There is a real need for federal legislation," he said. "There is no reason for this to be a sacred cow."Supporters of the law are keeping the pressure on by introducing another bill to create a state-sanctioned distribution system for marijuana. The Legislature will hold hearings on the proposal this winter.However, one law enforcement official, Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion, says the state could be doing a better job of providing more immediate help to patients who use marijuana.Dion supports the idea of a small, nonprofit marijuana growing operation, together with a registry for patients who qualify and have consulted with their doctors on medical use of marijuana.He says such a system would allow police to use discretion if they find someone growing too many pot plants."That would provide some immediate relief, and I think that's what voters wanted when they passed this law," Dion said.Meanwhile, patients like the three Maine men who were arrested will soon be dealing with the courts.Wynott has been given 45 days to find a doctor before a Ninth District Court judge in Portland acts on his marijuana possession charge.Cummings, through his lawyer, will file a motion soon in Seventh District Court in Waterville to suppress the evidence seized at his home.And Ellis goes to trial today in Franklin County Superior Court on charges of marijuana cultivation. If convicted, he could go to jail for a year.Complete Title: Maine's Medical Marijuana Law Leaves Some Patients VulnerableStaff Writer Dieter Bradbury can be contacted at 791-6328 or at: dbradbury pressherald.com Source: Portland Press Herald (ME) Author: Dieter Bradbury, Portland Press Herald Writer Published: Monday, February 12, 2001Address: 50 Monument Square, Suite 302, Portland, ME 04101 Copyright: 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. Fax: (207) 879-1042 Contact: letters pressherald.com Website: http://www.portland.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Mainers For Medical Rightshttp://www.mainers.org/Medical Marijuana Woes Called Commonhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8639.shtmlAIDS Patient Faces Trial in Rare Marijuana Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8530.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by meagain on February 12, 2001 at 11:22:26 PT
Doctor Hype
But Pickus notes that doctors who recommend marijuana could be in   danger of losing their federal licenses to prescribe scheduled drugs.This is bull that was tried in California ACLU jumped in the fight >>> I am sure Maine has an ACLU chapter there too.The doctors need to start saying and doing what they believe in not what they are told to believe in geee sounds like religion almost
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