LEWISTON — A new coalition aimed at defeating a November ballot question that will ask Maine voters to make marijuana legal for recreational use under state law is growing, according to a coalition leader. Mainers Protecting Our Youth and Communities includes parents, health experts, clergy and police, said Scott Gagnon, the coalition’s spokesman and the chairman […]
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Maine marijuana legalization campaign raises $53,011
AUGUSTA — A group hoping to place a ballot question before Maine voters to legalize recreational marijuana says it has raised $53,011 in the second quarter of 2015. But $50,000 of the donation to The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol came from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that claims 200,000 supporters […]
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Split between marijuana legalization groups could undermine effort in Maine
AUGUSTA — Maine voters could face competing pot ballot measures in 2016, both seeking to make recreational marijuana legal. But the split between a national legalization advocacy group and a home-grown Maine organization could divide support for marijuana reforms that most polls suggest are favored by a majority of the state’s voters. On Wednesday, Paul […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine marijuana votes foreshadow statewide push for legalization
SOUTH PORTLAND — Maine might soon be going to pot. Ballot questions about the legalization of marijuana in two Maine cities are a run-up to a statewide legalization drive in 2016, pro-marijuana activists say. They hope success in Tuesday’s election is a bellwether for a statewide vote to legalize the drug. Pro-pot activists are also […]
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Pro pot group makes Bates push on Lewiston ballot question
LEWISTON — Advocates of a city ordinance change that would make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for those 21 and older said Tuesday they hope to mobilize young voters, especially college students at Bates, to their cause. Voters in Lewiston and South Portland will decide similar ballot questions in November […]
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Lewiston voters may settle legal pot petition in November
LEWISTON — City voters will likely decide in November whether they want to join Portland in sending a message to lawmakers in Augusta and Washington that marijuana should be made legal for adult recreational use. Advocates from the Maine Marijuana Policy Project on Friday met their deadline for turning in 859 signatures from registered Lewiston […]
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Pot legalization advocates turn in petitions for referendum in South Portland
SOUTH PORTLAND — Marijuana advocates turned in 1,521 petition signatures seeking a legalization referendum in South Portland on Monday, marking a key milestone in what may be the Maine effort’s toughest battle yet. While the Marijuana Policy Project and its coalition of supporters faced little in the way of outspoken resistance while campaigning for a […]
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Lewiston’s pot legalization effort set to gather signatures
LEWISTON — Organizers hoping to make recreational marijuana legal in Maine’s second-largest city will launch their citywide signature-gathering campaign Monday, the state political director for the Marijuana Policy Project said Friday. David Boyer said his group will launch its petition effort with a news conference in Lewiston where it intends to collect signatures from voters […]
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Maine Senator, former House Speaker start TV show
AUGUSTA (AP) — Assistant Republican Leader Senator Roger Katz and former Democratic House Speaker Hannah Pingree are starting a new weekly political television program in Maine. On “Pingree and Katz, The Maine Event,” the two will discuss topics from welfare reform to gun control. The show, which will air throughout the state on Time Warner […]
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Pot legalization effort moves eastward to Maine
PORTLAND — Advocates of recreational marijuana use are looking to an upcoming vote in Maine as an indicator of whether the East Coast is ready to follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington by legalizing cannabis. Voters in Portland are being asked whether they want to make it legal for adults 21 and over […]