Maine SOS Approves Ballot Petition to End $250M Adult-Use Cannabis Market

The attack on licensed and regulated adult-use cannabis programs has expanded to Maine, where prohibitionists were cleared on Dec. 8 to circulate a petition to land a question on either the 2026 or 2027 ballot.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows approved the citizen initiative petition for the signature-gathering phase, when canvassers will ask voters to undo their own legalization laws. The proposal aims to repeal provisions of the Cannabis Legalization Act, which voters narrowly passed with a 50.3% majority in the 2016 election, paving the way for a commercial marketplace that serves adults 21 and older.

Under the prohibitionist proposal, adult-use cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and dispensary sales would cease to exist, and adults 21 and older would no longer be allowed to cultivate up to six mature plants and 12 immature plants at home for personal use.

This proposal puts a $250 million annual marketplace and nearly 4,000 full-time industry jobs at risk. Since Maine launched adult-use sales in October 2020, licensed dispensaries have sold more than $700 million in adult-use cannabis, providing over $70 million in state revenue from a 10% excise tax, according to the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy.

The state also benefits financially from licensing fees and a $335-per-pound cultivation tax on adult-use cannabis – one of the most burdensome tax structures in the nation.

The petition, “An Act to Amend the Cannabis Legalization Act and the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act,” would need to gather 67,682 valid signatures from registered Maine voters by Feb. 2, 2026, to qualify for the 2026 general election, or by June 8, 2027, to qualify for the 2027 election, according to the secretary of state’s office.

The initiated petition provides a Jan. 1, 2028, effective date, indicating a push for the 2027 signature-gathering deadline may be more attainable (and likely).

This move to backtrack on an implemented cannabis program – something no state has done – comes after prohibitionists in Massachusetts said they filed more than 76,000 signatures with the secretary of the commonwealth to land a similar proposal on their state’s 2026 ballot. It took the Massachusetts campaign roughly three months to gather those signatures with paid organizers.

In Maine, the secretary of state’s office lists Colin T.R. Mack, of Brunswick, as the main proponent behind the initiative petition. Mack did not return a phone call from Cannabis Business Times.

Madison Carey, of Gorham, was listed as the campaign’s primary applicant on the petition, which her husband, Travis Carey, also signed. The Careys, who lead the Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland, shared testimonials of their drug addiction recoveries on the church’s website.

Maine state Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Albion, who serves as a D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) coordinator and mentor, also signed the petition application, as did Nicholas Adolphsen, of Rockport, the executive director of the Maine Christian Civic League. Adolphsen previously served as a policy adviser to former Republican Gov. Paul LePage.

While the proposal targets Maine’s adult-use businesses and home cultivation rights, it would maintain personal rights allowing individuals to possess up to 2 1/2 ounces of cannabis and gift between other adults without criminal or civil penalties.

The state’s Office of Cannabis Policy would continue to oversee the Maine Medical Use of Cannabis Act and allow current adult-use licensees to transition their businesses to serve the state’s 100,000-plus medical cannabis patients. A legalization unicorn, Maine’s medical patients have outspent adult-use consumers every year the two programs coexisted, and they are on pace to do so again in 2025.

The success of Maine’s medical cannabis market is attributable to lower taxes and less burdensome regulations, leading to lower prices for patients.

Special Report: The Downfall of Medical Cannabis in 17 Adult-Use Markets

The initiative petition aims to institute tighter testing and tracking requirements for Maine’s medical cannabis program. Under the proposal, medical cannabis products would need to be lab tested for harmful contaminants, including a specific list of insecticides and fungicides.

Under current regulations, Maine’s medical cannabis products aren’t required to be tested at all for mold, pesticides, heavy metals and other contaminants. Maine is also a unicorn in that sense: Nearly all licensed and regulated state cannabis programs in the U.S. require strict testing standards.

Prohibitionists in Maine also argue that adult-use legalization hasn’t worked, as evidenced by the state’s ongoing problem with large-scale cultivation operations run by transnational crime organizations. A 2024 report from the Drug Enforcement Administration called attention to Chinese and other Asia-based organized crime groups funding unlicensed grows to exploit state laws in California, Maine, Oklahoma and Oregon.

From state licensing structures to overtaxation, poor regulation and ineffective enforcement, myriad reasons lead to this exploitation in some states and over others.