Search Results: leavitt (7)

Photo: The Bollard
The extremely cool Rep. Diane Russell of Maine: “We’re dealing with the world as it is”

​Legalizing marijuana would just be recognition of “the world as it is,” according to Rep. Diane Russell, lead sponsor of a bill that would make cannabis legal in Maine.

Rep. Russell (D-Portland) has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana, allow people to grow small amounts for personal use and subject sales to a seven percent sales tax, reports Edward D. Murphy at The Portland Press Herald. The resulting revenue would be directed to law enforcement, agricultural programs, land preservation, weatherization and higher education.
Russell, who has already been anointed Toke of the Town‘s favorite Maine lawmaker, spoke about her plan to legalize pot at Portland City Hall with about a dozen supporters and a lone whack-job protester wearing a sweater with “Jail Diane Russell” emblazoned on its back.

Graphic: Reality Catcher

​Two bills to broaden the decriminalization of marijuana in Maine got bipartisan support from lawmakers at public hearings Thursday, but were — surprise, surprise! — opposed by law enforcement officials.

One measure, L.D. 754, would double the amount of usable marijuana that individuals could possess and still have it treated as a civil, rather than a criminal, offense, reports Rebekah Metzler at Maine Today. The other, L.D. 750, would decriminalize possession of up to six cannabis plants.
“It is my fundamental belief that people who use marijuana for personal use on a recreational basis are not criminals,” said state Rep. Ben Chipman, an independent from Portland, when he spoke to lawmakers on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
“I just do not think that it’s reasonable to allow 2.5 ounces to be a civil infraction but having zero tolerance for plants and forcing consumers to the black market,” Chipman said.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Maine since 1999, and voters legalized dispensaries in 2009. The Maine Legislature in spring 2009 doubled the amount of marijuana a person could possess without facing criminal charges from 1.25 ounces to 2.5 ounces. Chipman’s proposal would double that amount again, to five ounces.

Photo: MyFoxMaine
Starting January 1, medical marijuana patients in Maine are required by law to register with the state.

​More than 400 residents of Maine have applied to be medical marijuana patients under a new state law. Starting January 1, Mainers must be registered with the state before legally using cannabis medicinally.

For the past decade in Maine, ever since voters approved medical marijuana in 1999, patients had needed only a doctor’s authorization to use cannabis medicinally.
Applications flooded into the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in the final days and weeks of 2010, with hundreds more expected in the next several weeks, reports John Richardson at The Portland Press Herald. State officials said that expect to register 1,200 or more patients by the time the initial rush is over this spring.
“Everybody’s coming in at the last minute,” said Catherine Cobb, director of licensing and regulatory services for the health department. “We’ve been hammered.”

Graphic: Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative
About 100 of the state’s 500 caregivers have already joined the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine trade group.

​Medical marijuana patients looking for information about the state’s new dispensary law, or checking out options on getting their medicine have a new resource: the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, a trade association that plans to adopt cultivation standards, keep prices low and advocate for safe access in the Legislature.

None of Maine’s eight licensed dispensaries has opened yet, reports Susan Sharon at The Maine Public Broadcasting Network. But according to the Department of Health and Human Services, about 100 medical marijuana patients have registered with the state and another 100 are in the process.
Hundreds more patients are expected to sign up by year-end, according to Jonathan Leavitt, board chairman of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine.
“Realistically the number probably is somewhere between 750 to 1,250 qualified patients in this state,” Leavitt said. “And I think those numbers will bear out by the end of the year when people are actually required to register.”
Many patients will soon access their medicinal cannabis at one of the eight new dispensaries allowed after Maine voters expanded the state’s decade-old medical marijuana law. But for those who prefer anonymity, getting marijuana through a licensed caregiver is another option.

Photo: BusinessBroker.net
Maine’s new voter-approved medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to make cannabis more accessible to disabled and ill patients — but making it reasonably priced may be another matter.

​Concerns about affordability are arising as the state’s state-licensed dispensary operators have set their prices high, in what they claim is an effort to prevent resale on the streets.

The newly licensed dispensaries in Maine have revealed they plan to sell their cannabis for $300 to $400 an ounce, comparable to California dispensary prices, reports John Richardson at The Portland Press Herald.

Graphic: Reality Catcher
The State of Maine will be selling marijuana by spring.

​A 14-member task force assigned by Gov. John E. Baldacci is trying to iron out the kinks in Maine’s new medical marijuana law so it can be implemented by its deadline at the beginning of April, 2010.

The committee, made up of state officials, police, medical professionals and others, meets today to address potential problems in the law voters approved in November.
The new law allows for state-run medical marijuana dispensaries, and also expands the conditions for which medical marijuana can be legally used in Maine.
Medical marijuana has been legal in the state since the Maine Medical Marijuana Act of 1998. This year’s voter initiative was designed to solve the conundrum of where those patients, legal for 11 years now, are supposed to buy their medicine.

Wikimedia Commons
Maine is one of only three states — along with Rhode Island and New Mexico — authorizing state-run marijuana dispensaries.

​A new task force is studying how, when and where medical marijuana will be distributed in Maine, WABI TV 5 reports.

The 14-member committee, assigned by Gov. John E. Baldacci after voters approved marijuana dispensaries in last month’s election, will advise the governor on how to implement the law with safeguards to protect public health and safety.
The rules are supposed to be in effect in 120 days. According to task force member Attorney General Janet Mills said “this time period is unrealistic.”