Medical marijuana has been legal in Maine for a decade now. But on Election Day, voters overwhelmingly decided that patients should have easier access to the drug. Preliminary poll results showed nearly 60 percent of voters approved a ballot initiative that makes Maine only the fifth state to allow dispensaries.

"Well-managed, well-run and do it the proper way, it'll be fine," says Portland resident Bill Higgins. Higgins is a 50-year-old engineer who voted "yes" on Question 5. He says marijuana has helped sick relatives.

Now, he and his friends are considering setting up a non-profit dispensary that he says will give patients a safe place to seek pot without stigma. "Basically it was a criminal aspect -- you have your mother dying of cancer and you have to go buy it from a drug dealer. With this new law when it goes into effect, I think the regulation will be there, the I think police will have oversight, the cities will have an input as to where these things are located by zoning and things like that."

The ballot initiative also broadens the type of conditions that can be legally treated with marijuana. Hepatitis C and Alzheimers' are among the illnesses that would be added to a list that already includes AIDS and cancer.

Jonathan Leavitt leads Maine Citizens for Patients Rights, which spearheaded the Question 5 campaign. He says a growing body of scientific studies shows the health benefits of marijuana. "And I think that the next thing that happens is a culture quickly realizes the validity of this plant and figures out a way how to have a healthy relationship with it."

"I felt very strongly that Maine voters were being sold a false bill of goods," says Evert Fowle, Kennebec County District Attorney and President of the Maine Prosecutors Association. Fowle joined state health and law enforcement officials in criticizing the ballot initiative. They worry that a new dispensing system would lack adequate controls and lead to the abuse of marijuana.

"The things that concerned me most are that patients are authorized to consume up to 200 marijuana cigarettes a month - I can't see how that would be good for anyone -- distributors are allowed to distribute 18 to 20 pounds a year to their patients and the marijuana grow operations -- the dispensaries -- there's are no limitations really on their size," Fowle says.

There was no organized campaign against Question 5, which Fowle says he regrets in retrospect. It's not clear how much of a difference a campaign would have made. Medical marijuana has become less controversial in the 10 years since voters legalized medical marijuana. Just last month, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would not prosecute medical marijuana users in the 14 states where it's legal.

"I think marijuana is not a gateway drug, I think that marijuana is not a big deal," says Jamie Wagner, a 43-year-old lawyer from Cape Elizabeth who voted for Question 5. He says he does not use marijuana but thinks that people should be able to use it responsibly.

"We have more problems in this state with over-the-counter drugs, like with Robitussin, 15-year-old kids are 'robi-tripping' on cough medicine. If you think that's better for you than smoking marijuana then you're wrong, because it's not. You know, it's much more dangerous."

Now that the ballot initiative has passed, it will be up to Maine's Department of Health and Human Services to oversee the expansion of the medical marijuana law.