The Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation is holding a public session on Tuesday, September 26, in room 228 of the State House in Augusta, at 9am, for comments on the proposed revisions to the Marijuana Legalization Act. The committee has scheduled work days for the 27th and 28th, and, assuming the committee approves a revised draft bill, it is expected that the legislature would vote on the bill in October, during a special one-day session to consider both marijuana and ranked choice voting.

You can click on the following links to view the existing law with analyst annotations comparing it to the propsed bill, as well as the full text of the committee’s proposed bill:

existing Marijuana Legalization Act
full committee bill

Highlights of the proposed bill include:

• Recreational marijuana sales would be taxed at a 20% rate (voters had approved a 10% rate); medical marijuna would be taxed at 5.5%;
• Internet and drive-through sales of recreational marijuana would be allowed;
• dispensaries and caregivers could become eligible to sell recreational marijuana (at different counters);
• dispensaries could convert from non-profit to for-profit companies;
• marijuana social clubs, which would be prohibited from selling (or giving away) alcohol and/or tobacco, would be licensed starting June 1, 2019;
• at present, it appears marijuana purchased at social clubs would have to be consumed, not smoked, on premises and purchasers could not take any marijuana off-premises;
• 5% of taxes collected would go to the host municipality of the marijuana facility (the rest to the state), plus an additional 1% of statewide tax revenue would be distributed to localities equally that had a cultivation facility, products manufacturing facility, marijuana store, and/or marijuana social club in the prior month (so for $10,000 in monthly sales, a municipality could expect to see $100 in tax revenue, plus its cut of the 1% of statewide revenue);
• individuals 21 years of age and older could use, possess, and/or transport marijuana paraphernalia and up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, cultivate or transport up to 6 mature marijuana plants and up to 12 immature plants and an unlimited number of seedlings;
• marijuana may be consumed only in a private residence (including “curtilage” (land immediately surrounding the residence) or on private property not generally accessible by the public with explicity permission from the property owner;
• marijuana may not be consumed in a vehicle;
• marijuana may not be consumed in a day care facility or at the location of a baby-sitting service during operating hours (after hours, you can get as high as you want at day care, apparently); and
• the bill also establishes various requirements for licensing, fees, labeling, packaging, tracking, testing, inspection, record-keeping, regulation, etc., and penalties for violation thereof.

For more information, visit the legislature’s page on Recreational Marijuana in Maine.