NORML.org - Working to Reform Marijuana Laws

Maine

1. US ME: Maine Pot Advocates Push For Legalization
   Maine Sun Journal, 03 May 2013 - Scott Thistle, State Politics Editor Maine | Friday, May 3, 2013 at 5:00 pm AUGUSTA - Dozens testified Friday on a bill that would let Maine voters decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Those in favor of the change told the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee that prohibition doesn't work and the country's 30-year war on drugs has been a failure.
2. US ME: Some Dispensaries Not Too Thrilled By Legal Pot
   Morning Sentinel, 29 Apr 2013 - Legalization Could Shut Down Medical Pot Providers AUGUSTA - Medical marijuana groups are wary of a bill that would legalize and tax marijuana in Maine. Estimates nationwide suggest if marijuana were legal, much of the profit gained by medical retailers and black-market criminals would disappear.
3. US ME: Want To Promote Public Safety? End The War On Marijuana
   Bangor Daily News, 07 Apr 2013 - In the history of the city of Lafayette, Colo., my resignation probably went down as one of the more memorable. I left my position as a municipal court judge in protest of a proposal to increase the penalties for marijuana possession in the city. Some people agreed with my stance, some disagreed, but I suspect the majority of people probably found it frivolous: Did this guy really give up such a powerful position just so he could smoke a doobie in the afternoon? Six years later, those folks are no longer laughing. In fact, most of them probably voted "yes" on the initiative to legalize marijuana in Colorado that passed with a wide margin this past November.
4. US ME: PUB LTE: Prohibition Doesn't Work
   Bangor Daily News, 05 Apr 2013 - This letter is in response to a March 29 column called " Marijuana legalization: An easy way out, " by Dr. Robert Q. Dana at the University of Maine. Dana apparently assumes drug prohibition keeps people from using drugs. Drug prohibition does not keep people from using drugs. If anything, it facilitates drug use by turning distribution and sale over to drug dealers who will sell anything to anybody.
5. US ME: Sponsor of Bill Says Maine Will Legalize Marijuana, One
   Bangor Daily News, 04 Apr 2013 - AUGUSTA, Maine - A bill that would let Maine voters decide in a statewide referendum if the state should legalize marijuana for recreational use saw dozens of people testify before the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Friday. Those who support the law change said prohibition doesn't work and the country's 30-year war on drugs has been a failure.
6. US ME: L-A Lawmakers Among 35 Co-Sponsors Of Bill To Legalize Pot
   Bangor Daily News, 28 Mar 2013 - Robert Long, Bangor Daily News Maine | Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 4:20 pm AUGUSTA - A bill to legalize recreational use of marijuana and regulate it like alcohol in Maine has garnered 35 co-sponsors and now heads to a legislative committee hearing. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, would make major 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. It was referred to the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.
7. US ME: Pingree Co-sponsoring Bill To Legalize Marijuana
   Bangor Daily News, 21 Mar 2013 - PORTLAND, Maine - U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine is one of 13 co-sponsors of a bill that supporters say would end marijuana prohibition at the federal level. News of the proposed legislation came on the same day that a petition drive seeking to legalize pot possession began in Portland, the largest city in Pingree's home state. The effort to decriminalize marijuana at a federal level also comes as state Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, is pursuing a bill in Augusta to do so at the state level.
8. US ME: Democratic and Republican Legislators Unite on Bill to
   Bangor Daily News, 21 Mar 2013 - 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.
9. US ME: PUB LTE: Pot Laws Subsidize Violent Drug Cartels
   Portland Daily Sun, 18 Mar 2013 - The people of Colorado and Washington state are way ahead of the politicians in Washington, D.C. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. This country can no longer afford to subsidize the prejudices of culture warriors. It's time to stop the pointless arrests and instead tax legal marijuana. Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy www.csdp.org Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom