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'We’re not talking about Woodstock marijuana'

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Maria Murphy, left, of Budding Potentials talks with Renate Plitzko of Dover, N.H., on Saturday during the 1st Annual GreenLove Celebration at Wind Shadows Farm in Lebanon. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp photos)

LEBANON - Doctors, caregivers, holistic healers, artisans, even a write-in candidate for the Oval Office, were on hand Saturday at a Lebanon medical marijuana festival.

The Southern Maine 1st Annual GreenLove Celebration, a three-day festival designed to educate the public about the medicinal potential of cannabis, attracted an eclectic crowd just as organizer Teri Poirier had hoped.

Individuals could be seen taking a toke now and then, but at least on Saturday afternoon, this certainly was no Woodstock, with most festivalgoers sauntering between artisan and caregiver booths, lounging on the grass of Wind Shadows Farm or just listening to a deejay playing pop and oldies standards.

Medical marijuana, which is legal in Maine, is considered a legitimate alternative to prescription drugs that often have dangerous side effects and also a high degree of addiction, said Maria Murphy, who provides outreach for Dr. Mary Callison, a medical marijuana consultant who had a booth at the festival.

Murphy said the typical medical marijuana user in Maine is over 50, a baby boomer, a professional and has had difficulty coping with prescription drugs in addressing health issues.

“Those prescription drugs have an addiction rate that is very high, so the people have an opportunity here to know there are choices,” said Murphy who added that there are many options for medical marijuana users.

“We’re not talking about Woodstock marijuana,” she said. “We’re talking about marijuana 2014. There’s edibles, tinctures. It’s not just a smoking medicine.”

She also said medical marijuana consultants can choose from many strains to pick one that’s right for an individual, including adjusting the THC content – the active ingredient in marijuana that produces a “high” – to a level that is comfortable for an individual patient.

Dee Daley of Sanford shows off one her homemade bars of soap. For more information on her homemade incense and tinctures, email her at Hibless17@gmail.com.

Another medical marijuana supplier, Coco North, of Bridgton, said she supplies patients in the Sebago Lake and Portland area and said she got into using medical marijuana as a two-time cancer survivor.

“For me becoming a patient made a huge difference, from being in constant pain, nausea, to making life manageable for me,” she said.

North said the three-day event is a blessing to many who desperately need help with pain and have issues with prescription drugs.

“A lot of people here are in need of help,” she said looking around at festivalgoers. “It’s not to get high; it’s to improve quality of life.”

North feels strongly, however, that recreational marijuana should not be legalized.

“It can be abused,” she said. “The way it’s being approached by doctors now it’s been shown to help people, but you’d be hurting them if it was legalized across the board.”

Among artisans at the festival was Dee Daley of Sanford, formerly of Costa Rica, who makes homemade soaps, tinctures, incense, body lotions and scrubs. She also sells gemstones and crystals.

Daley said she learned most of her business since coming to the United States, but brings some of it from her native country.

Also ambling about the festival grounds was write-in presidential candidate Donald Brian Lehoux of Sanford.

Among Lehoux’ platform is the outright legalization of marijuana as well as putting Congressmen on Social Security and charging $20 per person to get into Area 51, the famed Nevada hideout of all things alien.

The three-day festival offered all-night camping and today Poirier said about 100 ended up spending the night. She estimated there may have been as many as 200 there at one time on Saturday.

Poirier said there were no problems with campers, and Police never had to enter the grounds for any reason. She said the festival shut down the music at midnight as asked by Police.

On Center Road on Saturday, however, a heavy police presence was seen, including two marked cruisers and an unmarked state-police blue SUV.

Maine State Police Sgt. Jonathan Shapiro, who is charge of Lebanon patrols, said today there had been no arrests in connection with the festival. He said troopers in the area may have just stopped by because it was known that the festival was taking place and they could have been curious.

He said he wanted to sit down after the festival is over and chat with organizers and town officials to get their feedback on how everything went.

Poirier said the festival is back open today with many vendors returning and would likely wrap up around 8 or 9 p.m.

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