Portland, Maine –The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and Representative Deborah Sanderson are urging the Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA) to reverse their October 3rd decision to evict poor Maine patients for legally using medical marijuana to treat the painful symptoms of cancer, HIV/AIDS and other approved serious and terminal illnesses under state law.
On October 3rd, the Maine State Housing Authority board voted 4-3 to ban medical marijuana patients from possessing, cultivating, or using their medicine on property that receives funding from MSHA. Their decision was made despite a clear directive from the federal government allowing state housing authorities to craft local rules to permit existing qualified patients to remain in their homes.
“No one deserves to be put out in the cold for legally treating the crippling pain, nausea and weakness caused by AIDS, glaucoma or cancer,” said Alysia Melnick, an attorney for the ACLU of Maine. “We believe the decision of the Maine State Housing Authority was not motivated by malice, but rather a misperception of the law and a misunderstanding of the risks and benefits of marijuana. We hope that once commissioners learn more about the patients who comply with Maine’s Medical Marijuana Law, and the benefits to seriously ill people and their communities, patients will be able to face the coming winter without the added stress of eviction.”
Melnick, who drafted LD 1296, and Sanderson, the bill’s lead sponsor, achieved a victory last legislative session when they garnered widespread approval from the lawmakers to restore the intent of the citizen’s initiative and reinstate privacy and legal protections for patients and caregivers. But they say the MSHA’s recent decision represents exactly the kind of unwarranted stigma and discrimination Maine’s law was intended to prevent.
“While I understand the commissioners’ concerns, there is no evidence that allowing patients to access medical marijuana as directed by their physician has increased crime in any way or caused any public safety problems,” said Representative Deborah Sanderson. “In fact, if patients are forced to abandon a natural form of medicine to transition to narcotic pain relievers, they will just be contributing to the rising problem of addiction, crime and overdose caused by prescription opioids.”
In 1999 and again in 2009, voters in Maine overwhelmingly approved the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes. Although possession and use of marijuana remains technically illegal under federal law, it is the official policy of the U.S. government not toprosecute medical marijuana patients who are in compliance with state drug laws. And despite receiving loan assistance from the federal government, the MSHA has full discretion under federal law to allow existing patients to stay in their homes.
“Low income patients are already engaged in a daily battle to stay alive,” said Alysia Melnick, an attorney for the ACLU of Maine. “These patients pose no danger to themselves, their neighbors, or their community, yet, as winter approaches, the MSHA is forcing sick and disabled Mainers to choose between their housing and safe, affordable medicine.”
Melnick and Sanderson will be presenting their concerns and urging reconsideration at the next MSHA Board meeting in Augusta on October 16th at 9am
