Indopedia All Things Marijuana
In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage has vetoed the state legislature’s bill to regulate recreational cannabis sales just voted to delay a bill that would have launched taxed and regulated retail cannabis sales.
Maine voters legalized the sale and use of recreational cannabis back in 2016, but conservative politicians, led by hardline pot prohibitionist LePage, have been fighting to keep legal marijuana off the market.
State Sen. Roger Katz said that after LePage vetoed the bill last year, legislators met with him and worked specifically to address his concerns. “The choice now for legislators is whether to adopt the bill before them, which is the result of literally a year and a half of serious deliberation, or go back to the original marijuana legalization act,” Katz “The marijuana legalization act allows for things like internet sales, home delivery and drive-up windows, which we felt clearly were not in anyone’s best interest,”
Several local politicians said that they voted against the bill not because they oppose legalizing retail sales, but simply because there was not enough time left in this year’s legislative session to fully debate all the details. “There are many, perhaps a majority, who would like to legalize with a tax-and-regulate system,” said state Rep. Sarah Copeland-Hanzas,
Advocates of the bill are disappointed in the outcome of the vote, and have argued that the state’s current plan of legalizing cannabis possession, but not sales, will drive marijuana consumers to the black market. “ Although the legislation failed this year, lawmakers are optimistic that it will be revived next session, with ample time to debate the regulations.
