LePage administration rejects bid to treat opiate addiction with marijuana [View all]
Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has rejected a petition effort to include opiate addiction as a qualifying condition for Maine’s medical marijuana program.
It was floated by activists as a way to stem an opiate crisis that led to a record 272 drug overdose deaths in Maine in 2015, but the Department of Health and Human Services determined that the body of research on the topic remains too thin.
In Maine, medical marijuana can be recommended by doctors for a battery of conditions, including chronic pain, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder. New conditions can be added by law or petitions from the public.
In January, Dawson Julia, a medical marijuana caregiver from Unity, made the opiate addiction petition. It drew 50 people to a public hearing on the proposal in April, where many said marijuana helped them beat their addiction.
Read more: http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2016/07/11/lepage-administration-rejects-bid-to-treat-opiate-addiction-with-marijuana/
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