Veto Overturned in Maine on its Medical Marijuana Expansion

Maine marijuana law

Maine marijuana law: On Monday, lawmakers in the state of Maine voted to overturn Governor Paul LePage's veto of a bill to expand the state's medical marijuana program. 

The state House of Representatives pulled in 119-23 votes to override the veto. In the Senate, the vote was 25-8. L.D. 1539 will become law in 90 days after the end of the current legislative session, and the medical marijuana sector will start its expansion. 

Veto Useless

The bill eliminates the specific list of medical conditions needed to qualify to receive medical marijuana. Instead, it gives the doctors full control of determining if a patient will benefit from using medicinal cannabis. 

The new law will also allow six more medical dispensaries to open, and manufacturing and processing facilities will be added to the program as well. 

Deborah Sanderson, Republican Representative and the bill's sponsor, told High Times:

"I'm very pleased that it was overridden. The Health and Human Services Committee took a very comprehensive look at Maine's medical marijuana laws. We started right at the very beginning and went through the entire law. We took a look at what had been happening over the last eight years with it—where it needed to be tightened up, where it needed to be improved and tweaked for better patient access."

LePage's Objection to the Maine Marijuana Law

L.D. 1539 passed in June and ten days later Maine's governor vetoed the bill.

He released a letter explaining his reasoning behind the veto was that he felt it was dangerous to allow retailers to provide cannabis for caregivers. He was also opposed to cannabis extraction. 

"Seriously medical marijuana activists, just drop the charade of pretending there is a shred of science backing this 'medicine'-via-pot shops model," he wrote. "I mean that's why you want to remove the condition list because you know it's completely bogus."

It seems that swaying the Governor's thoughts on medical cannabis is out of the question. Luckily the US has its judicial system and democracy to save the day.

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