The 30-second ads, which will run four to five times a day on Maine TV stations through Election Day, feature a doctor and a nurse talking about the medical benefits of marijuana for people suffering from diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

The TV ads are a first for Mainers for Medical Rights, the group behind Question 2, a referendum to legalize the possession and use of marijuana for certain medical purposes.

Last week the group started running a radio ad featuring Mark Dion, the Cumberland County sheriff, speaking out in favor of Question 2.

Craig Brown, a spokesman for Mainers for Medical Rights, said the group has been saving its advertising dollars for the end of the campaign. He said the group does not plan any other last-minute efforts to win voters before the election.

Question 2 has no organized opposition, but several groups have come out against it, including law enforcement officials, the Maine Medical Association and the Maine Pharmaceutical Associa- tion.

Gov. Angus King has voiced his opposition, and on Tuesday U.S. Attorney Jay McCloskey reiterated his concerns that legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana would lead to more illegal use and send the wrong message to Maine youth.

The new TV ads focus on the perspective of health-care professionals who support Question 2.

In the first ad, Dr. Richard Baldwin, an internist from South Gardi- ner, appears sitting in a doctor's office, wearing a white coat and holding a stethoscope.

"If you're undergoing cancer chemotherapy, severe nausea and vomiting are common side effects," he says. "And they often fail to respond to available medications. Fortunately, there is a medicine that can help. It's marijuana."

The ad goes on to compare marijuana to morphine, and points out that non-medical uses of marijuana would remain illegal under the proposed law.

The second ad features Elly Cary, a registered nurse from Harpswell who has cared for many people in the last stages of cancer during her 35-year career.

"Marijuana could ease the suffering of some of them," she says. "I know it works. But today it's against the law."

Mainers for Medical Rights has also put together a list of 175 health-care professionals who support the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

There are only a dozen physicians on the list. Most are nurses, but there are also social workers, physician assistants, medical technologists and even an acupuncturist.

"There's a number of them who have worked with patients using marijuana," Brown said. "There are others who support it on principle. There's really a mix, but a lot of them are people who felt that they needed to speak out after the Maine Medical Association resolution against us."

On Sept. 17, delegates to the Maine Medical Association's annual convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing Question 2. There are about 3,000 doctors in Maine, and 2,050 of them are members of the Maine Medical Association.

The resolution stated that more research needs to be done on the medical marijuana issue, that potency of the drug needs to be controlled, and that there ought be a better "delivery system" for the drug than smoking.

Brown said that his group agrees with the physicians' concerns, but believes that while those issues are being addressed people who need marijuana to relieve suffering should have access to it.

Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association, said he was surprised that Brown could find even a dozen Maine doctors to put on his list.

He said most doctors already quietly "look the other way" when their patients who need marijuana use it, and that's not likely to change no matter what the outcome of Question 2. But these same physicians are worried about violating federal drug laws if the referendum passes and they are asked to openly endorse their patients' drug use.

"The physicians in Maine, in my opinion, do not have any difficulty with a patient who's having chemotherapy or who has AIDS being assisted by marijuana," he said.

"That's not the issue to us. The issue to us is the role of the physicians and the fact that the federal government proclaims that it will continue to keep marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic."

Maine is the first state east of the Mississippi to vote on legalizing marijuana for medical use. Voters have approved similar referendums in six other states: California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Alaska.Voters have approved medical use of marijuana in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Alaska.