Politics The latest in cannabis legalization including laws and policies legislators views election coverage and more. Politics Maine Postcard: When Advocates Turn On Each Other It Gets Ugly Crash Barry You might assume the loudest critics of Maines Question 1the ballot initiative that would legalize the adult use of cannabiswould be the prohibitionists or the police. Not around here. The latest round of fear-mongering by cops and reefer-madmen hasnt caught on probably because most Mainers know cannabis isnt responsible for the states real drug problem: skyrocketing heroin overdoses on the heels of a 20-year prescription pill abuse epidemic. Cannabis advocates turning on their own: Its a common theme across a number of states with cannabis ballot measures this fall. In Arizona legalization supporters who failed to put their own initiative on the ballot are actively working to defeat a rival measure that succeeded slagging the proposal as fake legalization.In Arkansas two competing medical legalization measures have been battling each other all year. Both face legal challenges from prohibitionists and if both survive they may split the vote and fall divided. In Maine the brawling has been carried out with sharp words and bitter social media postsbut so far has managed to stay out of court. Outside a group of cannabis advocates protested the cannabis advocacy campaign. I encountered this strange political dynamic up close on a recent humid Maine midsummers night. The occasion was a party celebrating the opening of the Yes on One campaign headquarters in a nondescript office park on Brighton Avenue a busy commuter thoroughfare into Portland the state Inside a subdued group of 40 or so campaign supporters and staff mingled in the bare-bones Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol office. Outside a group of cannabis advocates protested the cannabis advocacy campaign. A dozen or so dissenters shouted their fear that adult-use cannabis legalization would result in the elimination of Maines medical marijuana program. As we milled about the office a garbled bullhorn was slightly audible through the closed windows. David Boyer the Yes on One campaign manager and Marijuana Policy Project political director for Maine glanced out the second-floor window at the hubbub below. Its disappointing theyre out there he told me. Theyre not the majority. But they are vocal. He gestured outside. What they are saying is just not true. Question One is a good thing for patients. Its going to increase competition. Maybe thats what theyre afraid of. What did he predict would be the main effect of Question One on medical cannabis? The price is going to go down he said and the quality is going to go up. Portland Maine Bullhorn diplomacy As the office warming party continued to buzz I wandered outside to talk with the counter-counter-prohibitionists. No sooner had I exited the building than a middle-aged elfin man pointed and yelled at me. YOURE TRYING TO TAKE AWAY MY MEDICAL MARIJUANA! DONT TAKE AWAY MY MEDICAL MARIJUANA! In his hand he held a sign that read NO MPP FOR ME. Part of the argument against Maines legalization bid is that its backed by the Washington D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) which in some quarters is considered a slick corporate out-of-state special interest even though the actual initiative was authored by the Legalize Maine activist group. I identified myself as a reporter and tried to get the fella to explain how Question One would impact the medical marijuana program. 'I READ BETWEEN THE LINES!' said the man with the bullhorn. To my left I recognized a protest organizer who goes by the moniker Genesis Farms (thats his on-line name not his agricultural enterprise) and is known for his social media attacks on Ive seen him around. He drives a jacked-up olive green van with Vote No on One stenciled on the tinted side windows. Farms doesnt like how Question One forces growers and retailers to submit to criminal background check similar to what Mainers who work with children undergo. Plus he believes the initiative will destroy the medical marijuana program. Where in this bill I asked does it say the medical marijuana program will be eliminated? I READ he roared through the bullhorn BETWEEN THE LINES. David Boyer campaign manager for Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol sits in the organizations headquarters in Portland Maine on Monday Aug. 1 2016. Question One is a good thing for patients he says. (Tristan Spinski for Leafly) Lumpers vs. Splitters Back in the Yes on One office I put those criticisms to David Boyer. He said neither the referendum nor MPP are out to shut down Maines medical cannabis industry. We want parallel programs Boyer insisted. The states medical program is needed to take care of patients under 21 for instance and to prevent potency restrictions on medibles from interfering with the medicines efficacy. Cancer patients he said need the most they can get in one bite so [unlike recreational] you cant have a dosage regulation. State Senator Eric Brakey chair of the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee was the sole elected official attending the party. He echoed Boyer. Regardless of the outcome of Question One I dont see the medical marijuana program going anywhere he said. In talking to the other legislators on the committee where we oversee the medical marijuana program thats pretty much been the consensus. The program is here to stay. Brakey a Republican from the Ron Paul wing of the party views the upcoming vote as a conceptual question more than nuanced lawmaking. Should we continue getting government involved in telling adults over the age of 21 if they can use a substance safer than alcohol? he said. Or not? Thats what the people are voting on. Some of the finer details he said will necessarily need to be hashed out in the Legislature as we go forward and try to implement this and make it actually work. Citizen activist Hillary Lister at the Maine State House in Augusta. Lister opposes Question One because its licensing limit invites corruption she says. (Tristan Spinski for Leafly) Finding a critical voice of reason Not every dissenter screams through a bullhorn. Hillary Lister is one of Maines most recognized citizen activists. In 2006 she was infamously arrested for chaining herself to the state capitol building to protest the building of a construction debris incinerator. Lister opposes Question One because of its details. She doesnt like the initiatives first-year 800000 square foot canopy cap and its two-tiered licensing system with 40 percent of the licenses reserved for smaller grows under 3000 square feet. Limited licensing inherently invites corruption she told me. With a limited amount of licenses you will have pressure from all the different entities that want a license. It artificially becomes a closed market which I dont think is a good business model. And will force a lot of people back into illegal growing. Plus under current state law were already far more decriminalized than any other state in the country. Lister would rather Maine pursue legalization through legislative action rather than a referendum. Shed prefer a licensing system akin to the states medical marijuana caregiver model. Anyone who pays the fees and is in good standing could have this business she said instead of whoever has the connections and the funding. To spread her No on One message Lister has a series of speaking engagements leading up to the vote. A friend set up a GoFundMe account to support her work. About $1500 has been raised which Lister said will probably go towards yard signs urging a no vote. A bud of legally grown marijuana is held by a cancer patient in Portland Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Minutiae or deal-breakers? The issues bothering Lister and others are kind of minutiae said Alysia Melnick political director of Yes on One. The broader issue of whether adult use of marijuana should be legal thats really the question she said. The details are things that stakeholders have and will continue to have a role in impacting. Melnick hopes that Lister remains at the table despite her opposition. Shes smart and knows a tremendous amount said Melnick who has worked with Lister many times over the years. She can carry tremendous value as far as educating policy makers about the best way to craft and implement policies around a number of issues including this one. Melnick witnessed tons of political sausage-making while working as legal counsel and senior policy advisor to House Speaker Mark Eves for three years. She understands how some in the cannabis community fear lawmakers messing with the legalization measure to detriment of the local marijuana industry. Medical marijuana patients she said shouldnt worry about losing their rights under legalization. Maine is a really unique place where constituents have representation by people that really listen to them she said. You only have to make a couple of calls to a Maine legislator to have them really pay attention. Melnick speaks from experience. In 2011 the state required patients to register with the DHHS and ordered doctors to report patient medical conditions. Melnick then working for the ACLU of Maine helped lead the fight on behalf of patient privacy and civil liberties. When hundreds of folks from the medical marijuana community flocked to the Statehouse to protest the changes lawmakers eliminated the patient registration and doctor reports. We were able to have some say in changing it back because it was clear the people had voted on one thing and it had been changed dramatically she said remembering the battle. Its amazing how much Maine lawmakers know about the medical marijuana program. Its because people have turned out and shared their stories. I hope the same would hold true if people were potentially being pushed out of this industry thats going to bring incredible economic opportunities that are desperately needed. This is not going to be a single industrial grower getting a contract. One of the core pieces of Question One is the hope and belief it will bring economic relief to Mainers across the state. Melnick believes Maine voters are ready for legalization especially if they understand the social justice and economic benefits of Question One. I hope the people come together and pass this she said. Then we can quibble over the details. Leadimage: AP Photo/Tom Bell legalizationMainemarijuana policy projectpoliticsQuestion 1 Crash Barry Crash Barry has written extensively about Maines cannabis culture. Hes the author of the true story Marijuana Valley and the gritty memoir Tough Island. He adapted his novel Sex Drugs and Blueberries into a full-length film of the same name. He lives in western Maine near a marijuana grove. Related Articles Lobstah Chowdah and Local Green Bud: The Road to Legalization in Maine Is Maines Governor Losing His Ever-Lovin Mind? Maine Could Be First State to OK Medical Cannabis to Treat Addicts Related: Legalization in November Politics Florida Legalization: Desperately Seeking 60 Percent Politics Arkansas Marijuana Initiatives Face Lawsuits Politics Prop 64 Outraising Opponents 60-to-1 in California Politics Arizonas Weird Winding Journey Toward Legalization The post Maine Postcard: When Advocates Turn On Each Other It Gets Ugly appeared first on Leafly. by Crash Barry at Leafly