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INITIATED BILLS
Second Regular Session of the 119th

CHAPTER 1
I.B. 2 - L.D. 2109

An Act to Permit the Medical Use of Marijuana

Preamble. The People of the State of Maine declare their purposes and intent in enacting the Maine Medical Marijuana Act of 1998 to be the following:

     Use of marijuana has been found to provide important therapeutic and palliative benefits to many patients who suffer from debilitating conditions resulting from certain diseases or treatment of these diseases. Patients should be allowed to use small amounts of marijuana without civil or criminal penalties when their doctors advise that such use may provide a medical benefit to them and when other reasonable restrictions are met regarding that use.

     This Act is intended to permit patients who may benefit from the medical use of marijuana to be able to discuss freely with their physicians the possible risks and benefits of medical marijuana use and to have the benefit of their physicians' professional advice.

     Persons who have been legally designated as care givers to medically needy patients should not be in violation of civil or criminal laws when they assist these patients in using permissible amounts of marijuana.

     As there is currently no legally available supply of marijuana for medically needy patients, these patients or their care givers should be allowed to grow a small amount of marijuana to meet the patient's medical requirements.

     Enactment of this Act is intended to make only those changes to existing Maine laws that are necessary to allow use of marijuana by medically needy patients, and is not intended to change current civil and criminal laws governing the use of marijuana for nonmedical purposes.

     Enactment of this Act is not intended to permit use of marijuana in public places nor change any laws governing the duty of care owed to others, including laws governing operating a motor vehicle.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

     Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3103, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 1977, c. 664, §11, is further amended to read:

     Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §5821, first ¶, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 420, §2, is amended to read:

     The Except as provided in section 5821-A, the following shall be are subject to forfeiture to the State and no property right may exist in them:

     Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §5821-A is enacted to read:

§5821-A.  Property not subject to forfeiture based on medical use of marijuana

     Beginning January 1, 1999, property is not subject to forfeiture under this chapter if the activity that subjects the person's property to forfeiture is possession of marijuana and the person meets the requirements for medical use of marijuana under Title 22, section 2383-B, subsection 5.

     Sec. 4. 17-A MRSA §1111-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1981, c. 531, §§1 to 3, is further amended by amending the first paragraph to read:

     1. As used in this section, the term "drug paraphernalia" means all equipment, products and materials of any kind which that are used or intended for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling or otherwise introducing into the human body a scheduled drug in violation of this chapter or Title 22, section 2383, except that this section does not apply to a person who is authorized to possess marijuana for medical use pursuant to Title 22, section 2383-B, subsection 5, to the extent the drug paraphernalia is required for that person's medical use of marijuana. It includes, but is not limited to:

     Sec. 5. 17-A MRSA §1111-A, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 266, is amended to read:

     4. It is unlawful for any person to use, or to possess with intent to use, drug paraphernalia to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale or otherwise introduce into the human body a scheduled drug in violation of this chapter or Title 22, section 2383, except that this subsection does not apply to a person who is authorized to possess marijuana for medical use pursuant to Title 22, section 2383-B, subsection 5, to the extent the drug paraphernalia is required for that person's medical use of marijuana.

     Sec. 6. 22 MRSA §2383, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1989, c. 344, §3, is further amended to read:

     1. Marijuana. Possession Except as provided in section 2383-B, subsection 5, possession of a usable amount of marijuana is a civil violation for which a forfeiture of not less than $200 nor more than $400 shall must be adjudged for the first offense. A forfeiture of $400 shall must be adjudged for the 2nd and subsequent offenses within a 6-year period.

     Sec. 7. 22 MRSA §2383-B, sub-§3, ¶¶A-1 and A-2 are enacted to read:

     Sec. 8. 22 MRSA §2383-B, sub-§3, ¶B-1 is enacted to read:

     Sec. 9. 22 MRSA §2383-B, sub-§3, ¶E is enacted to read:

     Sec. 10. 22 MRSA §2383-B, sub-§5 is enacted to read:

     5. Medical use of marijuana; exemptions. The following provisions govern the medical use of marijuana.

     Sec. 11. Title. This Act may be known as the Maine Medical Marijuana Act of 1998.

Effective December 23, 1999.

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