Recreational Marijuana In Maine: Opponents Call Off Recount Of Legal Drug Measure

The group opposing a voter-approved ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana in Maine dropped its recount request after about a fifth of the state's 760,000 ballots already had been re-examined. Representatives from the No on 1 campaign decided to abandon the Question 1 recount Saturday, reports said.

Newell Augur, a legal representative for No on 1, told the Portland Press Herald the people behind the recount promised they wouldn’t “drag out” legalizing Question 1 if they “could not see any chance of reversing the result.”

“We are satisfied that the count and the result are accurate.”

Recreational marijuana was approved by 381,692 votes on Election Day, winning by a more than 4,000-ballot margin. The recount, which was expected to cost as much as $500,0000, was initiated Dec. 5. However, so far the recount has not indicated any change in the measure's acceptance among Maine voters, resulting in the opposition’s decision to call off the recount just as Maine’s Secretary of State Bureau of Elections put counting on hold for holiday break.

After results are finally certified, which is expected to happen sometime next week, recreational marijuana will be considered lawful for adults 21 and older within 30 days. The Maine Legislature will have nine months to create rules and regulations for the recreational industry, including guidelines for child-proof packaging, restricting advertising to minors and licensing. The first recreational retail shop will not open until about a year after the rules and regulations are officially set.

The recreational legalization of marijuana prompted Gov. Paul LePage to urge legislators to reconsider the state’s need for medical marijuana, which is also legal for ailing patients with specific conditions and a doctor’s prescription.

“Why do we need medical marijuana? I see no need,” he told WGAN, Portland, Thursday. “You don’t need a prescription to buy a Bayer aspirin. … Why do you need a prescription to buy medical or recreational marijuana?”