Supporters argue that marijuana should be available in the same convenient ways that alcohol is in Maine.
Want to buy marijuana discreetly from your car without walking into a shop? Or maybe you could just stay home and order it online to be delivered to your door?
If these purchasing options interest you then you may want to move to Maine if newly proposed rules are adopted into Maine’s final recreational marijuana regulations. Recreational marijuana was legalized in November after Maine residents voted to approve Question 1, but state lawmakers are working on the final regulations. The state’s marijuana committee is currently considering allowing purchases of marijuana from drive-thru windows and through online orders with home delivery. Customers would still be required to prove they are at least 21 years old with a valid identification.
Supporters of drive-thru and home delivery believe that offering convenient shopping can help prevent customers from turning to the black market. David Bayer, director of the Maine chapter of the Marijuana Policy Project was in full support of expanding buying options for customers.
“If Maine allows it for alcohol, we see no reason why it shouldn’t be allowed for marijuana, the safer substance, so long as Maine puts in place reasonable regulations to protect public safety and the consumer. The voters want it regulated and taxed like alcohol. The rules should be the same,” Bayer said according to the Portland Press Herald.
State Senator Roger Katz, a member of the committee that will ultimately determine the final regulations for marijuana sales, is opposed to home delivery and drive-thru purchases. Katz feels that expanding the ways in which marijuana can be purchased could result in more marijuana being taken across state lines. Katz is worried this would attract unnecessary federal attention.
“Given the fact that about half the people in the state voted against legalization, I think we ought to go slow and be cautious in the beginning,” said Katz. “But this is a legislative process. We reach decisions collectively. This is just a draft. I anticipate a vigorous debate. We’ve still got a ways to go yet.”
The committee will be meeting on Sept. 27 and 28 to discuss all of the recreational marijuana rules. If the committee approves them then the full legislature is expected to take up the issue next month.
