LEWISTON — Councilors will decide next month if they’ll legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana or leave the matter to voters in November.

Tuesday, councilors accepted the signatures from legalization proponents, the Maine Marijuana Policy Project. That group collected more than 859 signatures to put the question before Lewiston voters this year.

The change would allow adults 21-years-old or older to possess up to 1 1/12 ounces of marijuana. Selling or distributing the drug would still be a criminal offense.

Councilors agreed to set a public hearing on the matter at their Sept. 2 meeting. Councilors have two options: They can send the matter to voters or they can adopt the change.

Several councilors Tuesday were in favor of sending the matter straight to the voters.

“I believe this will be placed on the ballot,” City Councilor Mark Cayer said. “We have a history with petitions of automatically putting them on the ballot. We have enough stuff on our plates now, I think we should just deal with it tonight and move on.”

Councilors Michael Lachance and Leslie Dubois agreed. City Administrator Ed Barrett said he knows of groups that want to address the council on the issue and they are planning to attend the Sept. 2 meeting.

Councilors Don D’Auteuil and Nate Libby said that’s enough reason to wait.

“If folks do want to come down and talk to us, I say we wait,” Libby said.

Portland voters adopted a similar ballot initiative in 2013. Voters in South Portland and York will see similar initiatives on their ballots this November.

staylor@sunjournal.com

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