[420 Girl]

Maine - A task force charged with implementing changes to Maine’s medical marijuana law fine tuned its recommendations to the governor and Legislature on Friday, reaching consensus on several key issues but leaving a handful unanswered.

The task force was formed by Gov. John Baldacci following last November’s vote to expand the state law allowing qualified individuals or their caretakers to grow and possess limited amounts of marijuana for medical treatment.

After five meetings, the group agreed on a recommended process for issuing identification cards to registered users as well a system for licensing and regulating nonprofit dispensaries that would supply medical marijuana to patients.

The majority of members also supported the creation of an advisory board that would review whether to add other debilitating conditions to the list of qualifying conditions for treatment with medical marijuana. A minority of the members had wanted the task force itself to recommend the addition of specific conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, members acknowledged that the Legislature and the Department of Health and Human Services will have to resolve lingering questions about the existing language allowing towns to limit the number and location of dispensaries.

The task force, comprising representatives of state government as well as the medical community and patients, is expected to submit a final report to Baldacci within the next two weeks. That report will then form the basis of legislation that will be considered by lawmakers.

Public hearings on the bill will be held later this winter.

I think this is one hurdle that we have cleared,” said Faith Benedetti, one of several members representing patients’ interests on the group. “I’m really optimistic and hopeful that now the Legislature will do the right thing for patients.”

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