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.
posted on March 29, 2013 by
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.
posted on March 23, 2013 by
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
posted on March 23, 2013 by
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.
posted on March 23, 2013 by
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.
