The leaders of the Maine House and Senate have agreed to a limited moratorium on legalizing marijuana, putting off many of the provisions of the new law until Feb. 1, 2018.
Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport and Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau of Winterport have been negotiating the terms of the moratorium for several days, resulting in a bill that appears on today’s House calendar. The bill is being referred to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee as an emergency measure, which means it would go into effect immediately if at least two-thirds of the members in each chamber support it.
Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana will still become legal Jan. 30 as directed by the citizen-initiated referendum that passed in November but many of the initiative’s other provisions will be delayed a year.
The bill delays implementation of the state’s system to regulate sale and licensing provisions, which under this version of the legislation would be under the authority of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. It also gives the state more time to develop a testing and certification program for retail sales. There are other changes in the moratorium bill:
- Marijuana can be consumed only in a “private residence” until Feb. 1, 2018, as opposed to a “nonpublic place” as proposed in the original legislation.
- Legalization of the sale or possession of retail edible marijuana products will be delayed until Feb. 1, 2018.
- It closes a loophole from the original legislation that would have allowed marijuana possession by minors who don’t have authorization to possess marijuana for medical use.
David Boyer, Maine political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said this morning that he is holding a press conference this morning at the State House.
“Question 1 has a nine-month built-in moratorium,” said Boyer. “These politicians are clearly thumbing their nose at voters by proposing Maine delay this process before it has even started.”
Mary Erin Casale, spokeswoman for Gideon, said the bill would go through a public hearing process prior to votes by the full Legislature.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.