Maine legalizes marijuana for recreational use

Victory also was declared Tuesday by supporters of a similar measure in MA, giving legalized recreational pot its first toehold in New England.

The end of 2016 may be described as a watershed for weed after voters in Florida, Nevada, Massachusetts, and California made a decision to approve recreational marijuana initiatives, with many other states passing medical cannabis provisions. But the recreational marijuana initiative in Arizona was defeated, and the votes for and against Maine’s recreational measure were too close to call it either way early November 9, with the yes votes slightly ahead.

The result for legal recreational use in ME remains pending after a close result, and Arizona voters rejected the legalisation.

That tight framework may have squeezed out many entrepreneurs interested in jumping into the legal medical marijuana business, but the lack of competition has allowed licensed producers like Tilray to grow quite large.

Even though CT decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana past year, the topic of full legalization for recreational purposes has been a non-starter here. Now, in a significant moment in California’s history, selling cannabis will be starting from the beginning of January 2018.

California, with almost 40 million residents, was among them.

Elsewhere, recreational marijuana scored its first major victories east of the Rockies. Colorado voters were the first to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, but the dispensaries only opened in 2014. The incoming Trump administration could clamp down. Medical marijuana is exempt from sales tax. What will the restrictions for recreational marijuana?

He said: “It’s not that I would ever push weed on our kids”. “California legalized it, and they are going to be coming online very quickly”. Gorman adds that the Midwest states of Missouri, Kansas and Iowa get a lot of Colorado’s legal pot with two tons seized in last six years.

All of the marijuana sold in ME will also be grown in ME, he said. “It’s safer tocome into a facility and come get your meds than go to a random guy off the street”. “So, my personal feeling is that the cat is out of the bag”.

The federal government classifies drugs according to categories called schedules.

“It forces electeds to consider certain marijuana-related policies that they could have just avoided for awhile”, said Chris Alexander, policy coordinator for NY office of the Drug Policy Alliance.

“It continues to be an issue because banks are regulated at the federal level”, West said.

This is a huge tipping point for the cannabis industry; however there is much work to be done.