New legislation would prohibit smoking weed in Maine cannabis clubs
A new bill to regulate recreational cannabis use in Maine would allow cannabis social clubs to open across the state beginning in 2019. However, the proposed bill does not include an exemption from the state's public smoking ban, so it will likely be illegal to smoke marijuana in these marijuana clubs. The smoking ban extends to vaping as well, so the current legislation would only permit use of edibles, tinctures, or topical cannabis products in these new venues.
The current bill, which is a legislative rewrite of the voter-approved ballot measure passed last year, would delay the licensing of cannabis social clubs until July 2019. Legalization advocates were disappointed by the delay, but were pleased to find that club licensing was not removed from the bill altogether. Advocates were also pleased that the bill will allow patrons to purchase and use cannabis within the same venue....
