Bill that would have allowed medical pot in hospitals dead

AUBURN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Maine's medical marijuana program has been legal for 15 years, but there are key areas where state and federal laws collide, especially in houseplant.
Parents of very sick children are fighting to legally use medical marijuana in Maine hospitals. But hospital officials said allowing patients to use medical pot within their walls jeopardizes federal certifications and funding.
This legislative session, a bill protecting both patients and hospitals appeared to be the solution, but it died on the floor of the Maine Senate last month.

medical marijuana (Photo: NEWS CENTER)

Twelve-year-old Cyndimae Meehan and 4-year-old Kaylee Brown have the same rare disease. Dravet Syndrome, a form of epilepsy which is resistant to most medications. Their moms said medical marijuana has allowed their girls to wean off of power narcotics and it reduced their seizures significantly.

The process has landed both girls in the emergency room, where their parents are forced to choose between following federal law, which bans medical marijuana from hospitals, or doing what they believe is best for their children.
This spring, the moms pleaded their case to lawmakers, which resulted in a bill that would allow children with severe epilepsy to use medical pot in the hospital, in exchange those facilities would get legal protection from the feds. The bill passed both the House and Senate, only to be vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage.

The bill then failed by just two votes to override the veto in the Senate. Parents said if they would have been able to meet with the governor beforehand, the outcome might have been different.
"We asked multiple times to meet with LePage and have him listen to our stories and have him understand our feelings and how it affects our children," said Samantha Brown, Kaylee's Mom.

Parents plan to work DHHS and come up with a workable language in a bill that would protect the hospitals also protect medical marijuana patients. There was one bright spot for these families - a bill that would allow parents or caregivers to give children medical marijuana in a smokeless form on school grounds did pass.