Maine Lawmakers Seek to Revamp Medical Marijuana Program as Recreational Cannabis Law Stalls

The movement could significantly affect hundreds of Mainers in the state’s medical marijuana industry.

Marijuana Leaves And Stethoscope Adobe Stock Credit Creativefamily Resized

February 8, 2018

Watching the effort to create Maine’s recreational marijuana market has been a lot like observing a rocket take off from Cape Canaveral—lots of anticipation, waiting and more than a few scrubbed launches.

But in Augusta there’s a quieter movement afoot that could significantly affect hundreds of Mainers in the state’s medical marijuana industry. It comes at a time when the recreational law appears to be taking a bite out of medical cannabis sales.

Alysia Melnick helped lead the 2016 campaign to legalize adult-use marijuana, and she’s kept a close eye on the Legislature’s tortured efforts to get the market up and running.

But lately she’s been spending a lot of time in the Health and Human Services Committee, where lawmakers are working to overhaul the medical cannabis program.

“There’s a lot of medical marijuana cultivators who have their eye on the adult-use program,” Melnick says. “And as they’ve seen some things stall here, more focus has been put on the medical side.”