BANGOR — Maine’s commissioner of agriculture says a plan to legalize marijuana in the state will burden law enforcement and negatively impact natural resources here. Voters will decide if they want to legalize recreational marijuana use in Maine on Nov. 8. Commissioner Walt Whitcomb says the referendum targets rural areas of the state where law […]
Question 1
Posted inOp-Eds
Question 1: Setting the record straight about the usage of marijuana
I just visited Maine to share the lessons my state, Washington, has learned four years after voting to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for adults. During my visit, Maine Gov. Paul LePage issued a video statement against Question One (Maine’s initiative to legalize the adult use of marijuana). The closest thing to a conversation I […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine municipalities mull marijuana moratoriums
PORTLAND — Several municipalities across Maine have moved to enact moratoriums on marijuana social clubs and retailers in anticipation of the passage of referendum Question 1 on the November ballot. The Portland Press Herald reports that the ballot measure would legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21 if it’s […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Question 4 financed by out-of-staters
While the leaked communications of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have dominated headlines, another embarrassing disclosure was recently made in Maine. Financial disclosures filed this month with the Maine Ethics Commission show that the state’s leading minimum wage political-action committee, Mainers for Fair Wages, is overwhelmingly funded by non-Mainers. An analysis of the disclosures indicates […]
Posted inLetters
Marijuana a safer alternative
I am voting “yes” on Question 1. Marijuana can help Mainers get off of addictive, deadly opiates, just as it did for me. I am a lifelong Mainer and a 22-year veteran of the Navy. I loved my time in the service, but returned with PTSD and excruciating pain from an accident on a submarine. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine AG denies politics motivates her Question 1 opposition
BANGOR — The Maine attorney general said Saturday that her recent declaration that the state’s marijuana referendum, if passed, would let children use the drug legally was based on extensive research. Attorney General Janet Mills rejected suggestions that the timing of her statement last week was politically motivated. “I wish [proponents of Question 1] had […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine AG says Question 1 will let kids have marijuana
AUGUSTA —Maine Attorney General Janet Mills says a proposal to legalize marijuana for recreational use would have the effect of making pot legal for children. Mills told WCSH-TV the referendum to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older removes the existing legal language that makes possession of small amounts of marijuana a civil infraction for […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Legalized pot referendum to be Question 1 on November ballot
The campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Maine drew the coveted Question 1 spot on the statewide 2016 ballot during Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s random drawing on Monday. The November ballot will be a crowded place for referendum efforts, with five citizen-initiated ballot questions and a bond question. The marijuana legalization question will be followed on the ballot by efforts […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
$1.7 million spent to raise public campaign financing
PORTLAND — Political committees spent a collective $1.7 million to campaign for expanding the state’s publicly financed election system, battling vocal but frugal opposition. A group working to defeat the measure raised just more than $44,000. The battle over proposed changes to Maine’s public campaign financing system was the most hotly contested of three state […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine voters pass campaign finance reform, $100 million in bonds
PORTLAND — In a victory for advocates of clean elections, Maine will bolster public campaign finance laws weakened by a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling because of voters’ passage of a referendum on Tuesday. State voters also decided to authorize $100 million in bonds for infrastructure improvements and housing for seniors. The Mainers for Accountable […]