Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Back to the Legislative Drawing Board on Marijuana Legalization in Maine
As the state legislature returns for the January session, one of the things they are working on is setting up the rules that will govern legalized recreational marijuana in the state. After several months of bipartisan work, their last attempt was vetoed by the Governor and the legislature failed to overturn the veto. So despite Mainers voting in support of legalization in 2016, the committee is going into 2018 still trying to craft a package of rules that LePage will sign – or that will at least garner enough votes to override his next veto. This is complicated by the recent announcement by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinding the 2013 Cole memo which had indicated that the federal government would in most cases not be focusing on enforcing marijuana laws. So the Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation held a public hearing on the latest proposed regulations, LD 1719 “An Act To Implement a Regulatory Structure for Adult Use Marijuana” last week. The public packed the meeting room and overflowed into an adjoining room, and testimony lasted for several hours. Today we bring you some key excerpts.
FMI: legislature.maine.gov/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280067229