The petition will need about 68,000 signatures by early February to make it onto the 2026 ballot
Read Talking Joints Memo coverage of the Massachusetts ballot initiative to repeal adult-use cannabis here
A new citizen’s initiative is looking to roll back recreational cannabis use in Maine.
Maine has allowed for prescribing and limited possession of medical marijuana since 1999, and a successful 2009 referendum established licensed and regulated medical dispensaries. Then, in 2016, Maine voters approved recreational use, retail sale and taxation of cannabis, which the state also refers to as adult use.
However, a proposed ballot referendum wants to do away with the commercial cultivation, sale, purchase and manufacture of cannabis starting Jan. 1, 2028. However, it would still allow for personal use and possession of up to 2.5 ounces.
Colin Mack of Brunswick is listed as the lead petitioner on the Secretary of State’s website; however, he did not respond to a request from Maine Morning Star for comment.
The proposal would also create a streamlined process for people currently licensed under the recreational use program to switch to the medical program and sell any existing recreational products to medical use participants.
The petition will need about 68,000 signatures by early February to make it onto the 2026 ballot. The number of signatures required represents 10% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election in 2022.
Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland), who led the successful 2016 campaign to legalize recreational cannabis, called the petition “shortsighted.” Pointing to research that has found cannabis to be less addictive than alcohol, Boyer said the state’s adult use program has helped Maine’s economy by bringing in tax revenue and creating jobs.
“How do you put the toothpaste back in the bottle? These Mainers have invested their blood, sweat and tears in these adult use businesses. A lot of them were medical, made that shift to adult use or maybe do both markets. We’re going to put them out of business?” Boyer said.
Since 2021, the adult use retail cannabis program has grown from nearly $82 million in annual sales to more than $243 million in sales last year, according to data provided by the state’s Office of Cannabis Policy.
There are 180 licensed adult use stores throughout the state, compared to 86 medical dispensaries.
In addition to funneling use back into the medical program, the initiative also wants to create testing and tracking requirements for the medical use cannabis program to detect any harmful contaminants in the cannabis or cannabis products.
Boyer said these regulations would be “overly burdensome.”
The adult use program already tests for six categories of contaminants. For every 50 samples that were tested in the third quarter this year, about three of them were found to have at least one contaminant exceeding the level permitted in statute.
This article was republished from the Maine Morning Star under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. You can read the original version here.
