Maine is the only state in the country where legal medical cannabis is not required to be tested for chemicals, mold, heavy metals and other contaminants. Legislators could be closer than ever to changing that. A bill proposed by Rep. Anne Graham, D-North Yarmouth, seeks to apply safeguards in Maine's adult-use cannabis industry to the state's medical market by mandating product testing and seed-to-sale plant tracking.
Similar testing and tracking bills have been proposed and defeated in recent years. But unlike those proposals, many of which sought to entirely overhaul Maine's medical cannabis program, Graham said her bill's scope is smaller and was drafted with input from the industry.
"I have never in my four legislative sessions worked harder on a bill. I think I've amended it at least half a dozen times," she said. "We worked really really hard to compromise."
The bill is still hung up in committee but is expected to be voted out in the coming weeks, setting the stage for a lively debate when it reaches the House floor. Maine first legalized medical cannabis in 1999 and the industry has maintained a "mom and pop" reputation ever since. Barriers to entry are low and regulations are minimal. The result has been one of the few medical markets that makes more sales than its adult-use counterpart.
Read more at The Portland Press Herald
