The Long and Winding Road to Legalization

BY KATIE WEITMANN

The current cannabis prohibition began in 1937 with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act. The first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, picked a fight with the plant as a way to stay relevant after alcohol prohibition ended. Despite mounting evidence that cannabis posed no threat to society, and after early statements asserting cannabis was not a threat, Anlinger used fear—specifically fear of the Black and growing Latino communities—to get public support behind its prohibition. Anslinger began calling cannabis ‘marihuana’ to further drive home the plants’ connection to Mexican immigrants, who the working class feared would take their jobs and taint their communities.

Strong propaganda campaigns began in the 1920s and ‘30s portraying marijuana as a substance that would drive you insane and cause you to commit criminal acts. Multiple articles were published alleging that cannabis use led to insanity and murder. Movies, such as Reefer Madness and Assassin of Youth, were created to scare adolescents away from cannabis use. This propaganda not only vilified the use of cannabis, but also linked it to minority groups and subcultures (perhaps most notably jazz culture and beatniks) and subsequently worked to vilify these groups as well.

Conservative politicians maintained the trope, causing stigma to grow around cannabis use. Marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and ecstasy, meaning that the federal government doesn’t recognize any legitimate medical uses for cannabis. We all know this is absurd—science (and history) has proven there are multiple medical uses for cannabis. Luckily, the stigma is abating, and politicians are beginning to admit that prohibition was a mistake. Almost every 2020 presidential candidate set forth a plan for marijuana legalization, and most included reevaluating drug charges for those serving time or having prior cannabis convictions. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders even said they would legalize marijuana by executive order if they were elected!

In such a charged climate, any slight misstep can close the door to any future recreational retail opportunities. In Maine, many found that the best path to opening an adultuse store was to get a foot in the door by becoming a medical distributor while preparing to meet all of the strict requirements for non-medical distribution, and by paying particularly close attention to seed-to-sale demands and local zoning.

There are a lot of moving parts—for instance, after months of preparing to use BioTrackTHC seed-to-sale software, the state decided to pull out of their agreement just after Christmas, setting back the recreational program so the state could find a new monitoring system. That also meant that producers who had already invested time and resources into figuring out the BioTrack system before the switch had to go through the process all over again with METRC, the new software company Maine signed a contract with.

In states with legal sales of recreational cannabis there is no doubt tax revenues will be a great boon to their economies— Illinois legalized cannabis at the start of this year and did $10.8 million in sales in the first five days! And since prohibition began, cannabis use has been considered a victimless crime by the majority of citizens, among both experts and laypeople alike. Progress has been slow, but the goal is almost realized.

After waiting for four long years, Maine residents and tourists traveling through are finally able to legally purchase adult-use recreational cannabis. You may be saying to yourself right now, “but I thought recreational cannabis has been legal in Maine?” Yes. While it’s been legal to grow, possess, use, and give or receive cannabis, it was not until this last month that any legal retailers began conducting sales. (And gifting, creating all kinds of creative loopholes). The main issue has been figuring out how to regulate it. And, over the last several years, Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) has been working to hammer out the details of regulating cannabis sales.

Since being voted into law back in November 2016, recreational sales have faced hurdle after hurdle, starting with a gubernatorial veto, and then OMP’s last-minute decision to switch the seed-to-sale tracking software from BioTrack to Metrc at the end of last year, and then, of course, the pandemic. OMP issued the first round of conditional licenses to almost 80 businesses—including retail, production, and testing facilities—at the beginning of this year. After getting conditional licenses issued from OMP, businesses then had to go to their municipalities for permission to operate. Once businesses received their town’s blessing, they could apply for active licenses.

Business owners were hopeful that sales would start in the spring—or by June at the absolute latest. As a natural skeptic, I was not in the least surprised when sales were delayed yet again. (Though this time, it was due to COVID, which is admittedly very different from earlier legislative hiccoughs). In late April, OMP director Erik Gundersen said, “Just one month ago, as we announced the issuance of Maine’s first conditional licenses for adult-use marijuana establishments, few would have envisioned the effects the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) would have on the daily lives of Mainers. However, it now appears as though a spring launch of Maine’s adult-use industry is simply unrealistic.” And with that, recreational sales were postponed indefinitely.

It’s been a long road to full legalization, but for Mainers that day has finally come. And when the federal government finally joins in, we will all be able to take a deep, THC-filled, breath of relief!

Illustration by StiCky