The Maine House of Representatives voted 112-34 on Tuesday in support of a regulatory bill establishing rules for the recreational marijuana marketplace residents approved in 2016, putting the state closer than ever to starting retail sales in spite of objections from its anti-legalization governor.
Mainers voted in November 2016 to legalize recreational marijuana and establish a system for licensing, taxing and tracking retail cannabis. A subsequent bill regulating weed sales easily passed in both the state House and Senate last year, but it was vetoed in November by Republican Gov. Paul LePage, spurring the compromise bill overwhelmingly endorsed by the Democratic-controlled lower chamber Tuesday.
While lawmakers failed last year to garner the two-thirds majority needed to override Mr. LePage’s veto of the previous bill, the outcome of the latest House vote suggests the current effort may garner enough support to withstand any further objections from the governor’s office.
“This bill sends a message that the long wait for the implementation of the legalization of marijuana has been long enough,” said state Rep. Kent Ackley, an independent who endorsed the bill, The Associated Press reported. “My hope is that every member in this body can go home at the end of this session with the ability to tell the voters in each of our districts that we finished the job they started in November of 2016.”
The governor’s office did not immediately return an email seeking comment. Mr. LePage previously said he opposes legalization since it conflicts with federal law.
Pending further votes in the state House and Senate, passage of the bill would keep a 10 percent retail sales tax included in the earlier version but add an excise tax on wholesale marijuana transactions. The bill also slashes the number of plants allowed for personal use from six to three and eliminates the “cannabis social clubs” contained in the voter referendum.
Analysts predict the excise rate could earn the state over $16 million during the first year of legal sales, Maine Public Radio reported.
Nine states and D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana since 2012 despite federal law prohibiting the plant, and six of them have implemented rules for retail sales: Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.
The Department of Justice advised federal prosecutors in 2013 against pursuing marijuana cases in states where the plant has been legalized, but President Trump’s attorney general rescinded those rules in January, causing confusion in the 29 states and counting where cannabis is allowed for recreational or medical use.
“Until I clearly understand how the federal government intends to treat states that seek to legalize marijuana, I cannot in good conscience support any scheme in state law to implement expansion of legal marijuana in Maine,” Mr. LePage said previously.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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