Pubdate: Thu, 21 Mar 2013
Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)
Copyright: 2013 Bangor Daily News Inc.
Contact: http://bangordailynews.com/opinion/submit/
Website: http://www.bangordailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/40
Author: Christopher Cousins

DEMOCRATIC AND REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS UNITE ON BILL TO LEGALIZE AND 
TAX MARIJUANA

AUGUSTA, Maine - Lawmakers from opposite ends of the political 
spectrum unveiled a bill Thursday that would give Mainers the chance 
to legalize marijuana for recreational use in a statewide referendum.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, and 
co-sponsored by Rep. Aaron Libby, R-Waterboro, would make vast 
changes in Maine's drug law, ranging from making possession of up to 
2.5 ounces of pot legal to imposing a tax of $50 per ounce.

Russell and others argued during a press conference Thursday 
afternoon at the State House that laws against marijuana have 
enmeshed too many nonviolent offenders in the legal system and 
deprived government coffers of millions of dollars in revenue. 
Russell estimated that taxing and regulating marijuana could generate 
up to $13 million a year, three-quarters of which she proposes 
routing into the state's General Fund, which supports the majority of 
state government including public education and most social services. 
The rest of the revenue would pay for implementation of the law, 
substance abuse treatment and prevention programs, and research on 
the effects of marijuana.

"We have retail establishments that grow and supply [medical] 
marijuana to responsible consumers," said Russell, whose first effort 
to legalize marijuana failed in the Legislature two years ago. "We 
have proven here in Maine that this can be done for medicinal 
purposes and it's now time to institute that same strict regulatory 
infrastructure for responsible adult recreational consumers."

Russell proposes making it legal for individuals to grow as many as 
six plants if they are cultivated in a locked space. She also 
supports allowing the transfer of the drug from one adult to another 
without compensation, as long as they are at least 21 years old. The 
bill would make it illegal to smoke pot in public and calls on the 
Department of Administrative and Financial Services to license 
marijuana retail stores, cultivation facilities, product 
manufacturing facilities and testing facilities.

Libby said his support for the bill isn't about promoting drug use, 
but rather about taking government regulation out of what he called a 
"morality issue."

"I believe that ending marijuana prohibition is a true part of 
limited government," said Libby. "As a fiscal conservative, I see 
great potential in the economic growth of removing these prohibitions."

David Boyer, who is the Maine political director for a Washington 
D.C.-based group called the Marijuana Policy Project, argued that in 
many ways marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol.

"Marijuana is objectively far less harmful than alcohol for the 
consumer and for the broader community," he said. "It is irrational 
to punish adults who simply prefer to use the less harmful substance. 
Law enforcement resources should be focused on preventing and 
responding to serious crimes rather than enforcing the failed policy 
of marijuana prohibition."

Denison Gallaudet, a former superintendent in the Richmond area, also 
supports the bill because of the potential revenue that could be 
reaped by the state. But another reason for his support of the bill 
is that in his experience, drug laws don't keep marijuana out of the 
hands of kids.

"We were confronted with the fact that our high school kids were 
smoking marijuana at twice the rate of smoking cigarettes," said 
Gallaudet of his time as superintedent. "This is clearly a plan that 
is not working."

If passed by the Legislature, "An Act to Tax and Regulate Marijuana" 
would result in a statewide referendum in November 2014.

Washington and Colorado approved ballot measures last year that 
legalized marijuana for recreational use. Bills to regulate and tax 
marijuana like alcohol also are expected to be debated this year in 
Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont, 
according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom