Of the many issues that I have with medical marijuana, the term “caregiver” rankles me the most. How can commercial farmers, growing cannabis on acres of land and selling their crop for $250-plus per ounce, be considered caregivers?

The Maine medical marijuana statute reifies the definition of for-profit producers as humanitarians. By this logic, Purdue, the pharmaceutical company that produces OxyContin, is a caregiver, in that it manufactures a product for similar purpose: i.e., the relief of pain. Note that if you read Purdue’s promotional material, you will find references to just such a humanitarian motive.

The Wikipedia definition of caregiver is in line with all others: “Typical duties of a caregiver might include taking care of someone who has a chronic illness or disease; managing medications or talking to doctors and nurses on someone’s behalf; helping to bathe or dress someone who is frail or disabled; or taking care of household chores, meals or bills for someone who cannot do these things alone.”

Doctors, nurses, medical assistants, personal care providers, nursing assistants, parents and children of ill family members are caregivers. The false equivalency of the two is genuinely offensive.

One would ask: Is there something about growing marijuana that is in itself unsavory that it must be euphemized to make it societally acceptable?

Mark Publicker, M.D.

Gorham

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