As a number of states on the other side of the country have enacted interstate cannabis commerce policy, holding out for federal legalization in the future, one East Coast state has officially rejected their own interstate commerce proposal.
A legislative committee in Maine rejected a bill that would have authorized the governor to enter into agreements with other states with legal cannabis and allowing for interstate cannabis commerce as soon as federal policy shifts.
The measure was introduced last month and would have permitted the governor to form agreements with other states to allow cannabis import and export between consenting jurisdictions. The sponsor sought to amend the bill, giving the governor a mandate to enter said agreements, though the committee didn’t act on the revision.
The proposed amendment would have also removed language laying out specific requirements for states outside of Maine to meet to conduct interstate cannabis commerce, specifically that non-Maine businesses must “apply standards to out-of-state commercial cannabis businesses operating in the contracting state that meet or exceed the standards” included in the state statute.
Interstate commerce activity would have only proceeded under four circumstances: if federal law changed, if congressional lawmakers restricted agency funding so the federal government wouldn’t be able to enforce the interstate commerce ban, if the federal Justice Department issued a memorandum tolerating the commerce or if the U.S. attorney general issued a written opinion to affirm that cannabis imports and exports wouldn’t put the state at increased risk of enforcement action.
Members ultimately voted unanimously on a motion not to pass the measure.
That’s not to say that Maine will never enact such policy. The chairman said that “the subject is not off of the radar,” specifically noting that cross-border trade and other cannabis issues the panel stalled at the hearing could still advance in separate actions, with lawmakers working throughout the summer.
“Cannabis is now Maine’s most valuable crop, besting the state’s signature agricultural products such as potatoes, milk, and blueberries,” Rep. Joseph Perry (D) said last week in testimony prepared for the committee. “When you combine the adult use and medical markets, some estimates have the value of the industry at over $500 million, significantly more than last year’s lobster harvest.”
While this legislation failed to pass, Perry also nodded to the road ahead, saying, “Federal legalization is on the way,” and nodding to the bipartisan cannabis banking bill congressional lawmakers are actively working to advance, along with a scheduled U.S. Senate committee hearing this Thursday.
The legislation requirements mirror those proposed in California, Oregon and Washington State.
Former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed an interstate cannabis bill in 2019, granting the governor the authority to make agreements with neighboring states with legal cannabis to provide for lawful interstate cannabis commerce. The bill states that this authority can only be authorized if the federal government makes cannabis legal or if the Justice Department implements administrative policy allowing for interstate commerce.
California passed Senate Bill 1326 in 2022, which gave authorization for interstate cannabis commerce in specific circumstances, also allowing the governor to enter interstate commerce agreements if the state attorney general determines that the state would not be put at greater risk of penalty.
Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) just signed the state’s interstate cannabis commerce bill last week, meaning that all states along the country’s western coast will be set up for cannabis import and export among one another should federal policy shift.
That’s not to say Maine was alone in its efforts. New Jersey’s Senate president filed a similar interstate proposal last year, though it has yet to be enacted. However, looking at the geography of the East Coast and current cannabis policy reveals the unique position Maine finds itself in.
The bill stated that cannabis could not be transported through illegal cannabis states, and given that New Hampshire (which has yet to legalize cannabis), Canada and the Atlantic Ocean solely surround Maine, the bill could have faced further complications.
