A Maine lawmaker filed a bill that would allow the state to enter into agreements for interstate cannabis commerce with other states who have legalized marijuana.
Rep. Joseph Perry’s (D) legislation would allow Maine to join a growing list of states that have legalized marijuana exports and imports pending federal policy changes.
The bill text states that under the proposal the governor could enter into agreements with other cannabis-legal states to “authorize the transportation, cultivation and manufacture of cannabis, or cannabis products, as well as the purchase, sale, or distribution thereof in or out of the State.”
The interstate commerce activity can only be carried out in one of four situations: if federal laws change, if Congress restricts funding to federal agencies so they are unable to enforce the interstate trade ban, if Justice Department of the federal government issues a memo tolerating commerce, or if U.S. Attorney General issues a written opinion to the effect that allowing marijuana imports and/or exports would not put the state’s enforcement at risk.
These requirements are similar to laws that were enacted by California and Oregon. However, California’s policy gives the governor the authority to enter into interstate commerce agreements when the attorney general of the state determines that there is no greater risk that the state will be penalized.
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Washington State legislators also sent similar interstate marijuana trade legislation on to the Governor’s desk. All states on the west coast of the U.S. will be able to sell and buy marijuana within their borders, if federal policy changes.
New Jersey Senate President filed a similar proposal for interstate travel last year. However, it was not enacted.
The new law in Maine requires that marijuana businesses operating outside the state comply with Maine’s regulations regarding “tracking and tagging cannabis products and misbranded or adulterated cannabis products. Identifying and destroying these products and labeling. Marketing and advertising.”
These contracting businesses will also have to “address any public health or safety emergencies involving cannabis or cannabis products, and agree to cooperate with investigations into non-compliance of the agreement or Maine laws or rules.”
Maine is an isolated state that borders only New Hampshire. The bill states that marijuana cannot be transported through a state that doesn’t allow it. This could create regulatory complications, given that New Hampshire still hasn’t legalized recreational cannabis.
Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that Maine’s law prohibiting residents from owning medical cannabis businesses in the state was in violation of the Commerce Clause. Legal experts think that the same reasoning used to invalidate the residency restrictions may be used in challenging state-level prohibitions on marijuana exports and imports.
The thinking goes that preventing the import and export of medical cannabis among states who consent could be construed to be similarly protectionist and inconstitutional.
A Oregon marijuana company filed a suit in November at the federal court claiming that the current state ban on cannabis imports and exports from and to other states is a violation of the Constitution.
In Maine, the state’s cannabis regulators published a report in 2017 that found the launch of a cannabis market for adult use in the state had already exceeded expectations in terms of reducing illicit sales .
The article Maine Lawmaker Files a Bill to Allow Marijuana Interstate Commerce when Federal Policy Changes first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
