Nearly four years after Maine voters approved adult-use cannabis sales through a ballot measure, the state’s marijuana industry regulator announced licensed dispensaries can open for business on October 9. Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) said it will issue the first round of recreational marijuana business licenses on September 8. [...]
The House of Representatives approved an amendment to a defense spending bill that would protect marijuana businesses operating legally under state, territory, or tribal law from federal interference. The amendment, passed in a 254-163 vote, would prohibit the Department of Justice (DoJ) from using taxpayer funds to enforce federal marijuana [...]
The first states to legalize cannabis, Colorado and Washington, didn’t give a great deal of thought to social equity – the idea that those most harmed by the War on Drugs should benefit most from a legal industry – when developing their frameworks for a legal marijuana market and determining [...]
Four years after approving adult-use marijuana sales through a ballot measure, Maine residents expecting legal cannabis sales to begin this month will now have to wait until at least June. News of the three-month delay comes courtesy of the latest state budget forecast. The committee behind the forecast revised the [...]
A commercial adult-use cannabis industry is coming to Maine early next year, after Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed a bill to establish a legal framework for marijuana sales. The state's Office of Marijuana Policy intends to accept applications for commercial licenses before the end of 2019. Voters in Maine approved [...]
This November, voters in Maine will choose a U.S. senator. The race is between the incumbent, Angus King, an independent, and State Senator Eric Brakey, a Republican. Both candidates have expressed support for states’ rights on the question of legalization, but Brakey has gone further in support of federal reform. [...]
In mid-September, the state of Maine’s Department of Administrative and Financial Services issued a notice that it is seeking to hire a consultant to advise on the implementation of the state’s adult-use marijuana program. This announcement follows a similar practice that the department, along with the Department of Agriculture, Conservation [...]
In Maine, the legislature and Republican governor Paul LePage continue to be in conflict over marijuana. In early July, the state legislature overrode his veto on new marijuana legislation. And as reported here previously, in May, the state’s Republican Senate and Democratic House overrode the Republican governor’s veto of a [...]
In Maine, adult-use marijuana has been legal since the beginning of 2017, although implementation of the law was postponed until early 2018. One question that has arisen since then is whether employers may discipline or fire employees who test positive for marijuana. The simple answer is no, but many details [...]
On May 2, Maine’s Democratic House and Republican Senate surpassed the necessary two-thirds vote to override Govenor Paul LePage’s veto of LD1719, a bill titled 'An Act To Implement a Regulatory Structure for Adult Use Marijuana'. With the law now passed, Maine is expected to have a legal marijuana market [...]
