Medical marijuana groups are wary of a bill that would legalize and tax marijuana in Maine.
Estimates nationwide suggest if marijuana were legal, much of the profit gained by medical retailers and black-market criminals would disappear.
That worries Glenn Peterson, the owner of Canuvo, a Biddeford medical-marijuana dispensary. He also serves as president of the Maine Association of Dispensary Operators, a trade group made up of five Maine dispensary owners.
Peterson said his group is concerned that the bill could “eliminate the medical marijuana industry” in Maine.
“I tend to be libertarian,” he said. “On the other hand, I am quite protective of my dispensary.”
Paul McCarrier, a lobbyist for Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, an advocacy group for state-licensed caregivers who grow marijuana for small groups of medical patients, said his group is opposing the bill. McCarrier said it would favor dispensaries through licensing requirements, which could regulate small-time growers out of existence.
“The scope of protections for the individual to cultivate for themselves is too limited,” he said.
The head of a national group that has supported the. . . . . READ MORE