Jim and Liz (Kettenring) Maier write

Dear friends of the class of 1965,

Maud, Dag, Liv, Sam, Solveig
This has been a hard year for us as we are just now approaching the anniversary of our beloved son Sam's death in Norway where he had enjoyed 12 wonderful years as a husband, father of 3 children, and beginning ESL teacher. We wanted to let folks know about this tragedy ahead of time, (as we did prior to my 40th Amherst reunion last May) and to share some photos to help you understand the magnitude of our loss.

Sam had successfully kept his severe bipolar disorder (accurately described as "a ruinous, relentless disease...which takes no hostages") in remission with lithium since its frightening onset at age 20, but due to kidney
Lydia, Tipton, Ellis, Merritt
damage from this medicine he had to go off it in January. He soon suffered a prolonged psychotic recurrence and was hospitalized in February. No other treatment was able to break the psychosis so he could get back to his home in Haugesund (on the West coast of Norway). We believe he was overpowered by deeply irrational fear which led him to impulsively run from the hospital and take his own life. He deeply loved his wife Maud, 5 year old twins Liv and Dag, and their sister Solveig, 3. He has left us all with wonderful memories of his beautiful life and spirit, and we know that he is at peace.

Liz and I have been to Norway many times, and will be going again this April to visit our three grandchildren, Maud, and her extended family who live nearby. We're very fortunate to have our two grown daughters, their husbands, and our 3 U.S. grandchildren living here in Portland.
Sarah, Jeff, Farris


Lydia is now Dean of Waynflete School (where Liz was a librarian for 22 yrs.) and where Ellis, 10, and his little sister Tipton, 4, are students.

Sarah is an M.D now doing breast cancer research at the nearby Maine Med. Ctr. Research Institute. Her daughter, Farris, 3, loves to come to Mormor and Farfar's (that's us) with her cousins. She also plans to attend the new Friend's School of Portland, where Liz and Sarah's husband Jeff are on the board. We are thankful for the support of Portland Friends Meeting and all our friends and family.

We are looking forward to seeing our "oldest" friends at Westtown.

Warmly,
Liz and Jim

Jim and Liz Maier <jim.liz.maiergmail.com>





Here is a piece by Jim that was published as the op-ed
"Keep minors away from medical marijuana" in the Kennebec Journal 2/9/10


NOT YOUR MOTHER'S MARIJUANA

The debate about how best to implement the new "Medical Marijuana" law in Maine has caused medical professionals to weigh in with a number of concerns, particularly for young people. A number of these are based on a growing scientific literature about risks which were simply not recognized back when Bob Dylan laughingly advised that "everybody must get stoned!"

One area causing anxiety for my colleagues and I in the PIER program (a research and treatment program working to prevent first psychotic episodes and hospitalizations in young people in the Greater Portland area) is the risk that marijuana use creates of just such a worrisome outcome ocurring, despite our best efforts. Tragically this can turn out to be the start of a serious lifelong mental illness which could rob a young person of the ability to hold a job, get married, and live an independent life. When heavy MJ use starts in early adolescence, the risk of the user developing schizophrenia or another major psychiatric illness may be up to five or six times the risk in the general population of a similar age. Such drug use is now being shown by newer brain imaging techniques to be particularly damaging to regions which have not yet fully matured in young people. The pre-frontal cortex is the part of the developing brain which makes us most fully human. It is responsible for judgment, planning and forethought, regulation of emotional life, and many other functions it performs as "the conductor of the orchestra," or "CEO," constantly integrating and evaluating the functioning of "lower" brain centers.

We have discovered that some of the least favorable outcomes in the "at risk" 12 to 25 yr. old population we work with in the PIER program can be laid squarely at the doorstep of drug use which interferes with treatment.

This can occur in many ways---for example: dishonesty about the true extent of substance use; quitting prescribed medications without disclosing having done so; and frequent failure to keep individual or group appointments. Moreover even in those individuals whose early "red flag," or "prodromal" symptoms have been well-controlled with medication and with the individual and group psychosocial supports which PIER offers, MJ use can result in a reoccurrence of paranoid delusions, hallucinations, or other frightening psychotic level problems.

Even leaving aside the under-recognized but significant dangers of psychological and physical addiction, and the well known role it plays as a "gateway drug" leading to other substance abuse, MJ may cause memory impairment and other types of cognitive dulling and motivational problems. These can interfere with education, relationships, and the development of crucial life skills. Related legal problems can add stress, family conflict, and other disruption of developmental progress. And a first psychotic episode dwarfs all other shorter-term problems with the ominous potential for kindling a lifelong severe (psychotic level) mental illness.

Adding to the factors which are creating well-founded concerns among professionals include the fact that what kids today are smoking is "not your mother's MJ". The National Institute of Drug Abuse has found a four-fold increase in the strength of MJ over the period of many years that it has been analyzed. And a recent article in the British Journal of Psychiatry also warns that levels of the active ingredient, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are much higher now than in samples from a decade ago in smoked leaves, seeds and stems, and in the concentrated forms of the plant's resin such as hashish.

Those charged with implementing Maine's "Medical Marijuana" law need to consider the above significant risks which the drug poses for young people. Excluding those under 18, for whom there are almost no legitimate medical reasons for its use, from accessing "MM" could prevent the opening of a truly dangerous Pandora's box.

Jim Maier, M.D., D.L.F.A.P.A., PIER Psychiatrist