Maine rec legalization measure focuses on small business

An organization pushing recreational marijuana legalization in Maine has a new focus: help out small businesses.

Legalize Maine filed initiative language with the secretary of state, and is touting its effort as the first “homegrown initiative,” according to the Portland Press Herald.

Much of the ballot measure language is standard – those 21 and older could possess up to 2.5 ounces at a time, and sales would be taxed at a 10% rate.

But the measure also includes provisions that have not been seen anywhere before in the legalization movement – it would require that at least 40% of cultivation licenses be given to small-scale farmers, and would also explicitly permit cannabis clubs where consumers could both purchase and use marijuana.

“We are the first to put local people before national interests and focus on stimulating our local economies,” Legalize Maine President Paul McCarrier told the Press Herald.

Yet to be determined is how Legalize Maine’s effort will merge or compete with the Marijuana Policy Project’s planned a ballot measure.