By Becky DeKeuster
Cannabis advocates in Maine and elsewhere breathed a sigh of relief last week as dueling campaigns announced that they would unite behind a single legalization initiative in 2016.
David Boyer of Marijuana Policy Project, manager of the newlywed effort, says that a unified campaign offers a needed focal point for donors, creating a better chance of success at the ballot box. “Previously, some donors were sitting on the sidelines because of the two initiatives,” he said.
Two competing measures also ran the risk of confusing voters, upped the likelihood of divisive campaign messaging, and created a very real risk that neither effort would gain a majority of votes.
The new, unified Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol provides all stakeholders with a single focus, and bodes well for a strong campaign and success on Election Day 2016.
Dueling philosophies
Just weeks ago, surveying Maine’s divided pro-legalization landscape and the rocky path to success it promised might have brought to mind the adage about traveling in the Pine Tree State: “You can’t get there from here.”
Cannabis advocates in Maine as elsewhere generally split along philosophical lines: “Treat it like tomatoes” versus “regulate it like alcohol.” This philosophical divide morphed into talking points that perpetuated a sometimes-ugly “Us vs. Them” mentality.
We see a similar philosophical split in each of the states considered likely contenders to legalize this year or next, from California to Massachusetts. This week, the divide reaches its apotheosis (or nadir, perhaps) in the heated battle over Ohio’s Question 3.
Valid principles underlie both of these philosophies, and beliefs grown in the soil of lived experience.
On one hand, a real fear of regulatory overreach that will price small growers out of the market. In their darker moments, these proponents worry that “regulate it like alcohol” folks are really a front for giant corporations who see this as a chance to vacuum up profits from an industry they didn’t lift a finger to help legitimize until the danger of federal interference subsided.
On the other hand, a real fear that a lack of regulation will create the kinds of public relations problems that paint the entire industry in a negative light and could spur even more restrictive rules in future legalization attempts. In their own darker moments, these proponents worry that “treat it like tomatoes” folks are really a front for large-scale black market producers who prefer not to track inventory from seed to sale, pay taxes or submit to inspections.
You CAN get there from here
Last winter, repeated efforts to unite the two Maine groups behind a single, co-written initiative failed. Legislative efforts to legalize also stalled out. Over the summer, spokespersons for each group continued sparring. And then last weekend came the surprise announcement.
With three months to go before each group had to submit more than 61,000 valid signatures, and faced with the very real prospect that dueling campaigns could,
- Confuse voters;
- Divide scarce resources;
- Force each campaign to focus on the differences between the two plans rather than on the benefits of legal adult use; and,
- Actually sink legalization’s chances until 2018 or even 2020.
Given that, the two Maine groups agreed to partner.
A great compromise
The compromise is this: MPP-backed Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA) dropped its initiative entirely, and adopted the language of caregiver-driven Legalize Maine’s initiative. Legalize Maine will throw its support behind CRMLA, which will take over the signature-gathering and campaigning, making use of its extensive experience and fundraising clout to get the campaign across the finish line next November.
The surviving initiative affords home-grown rights and aligns adult use possession limits with those already in place for the medical cannabis program (6 flowering/2.5 ounces). It does not change the medical program. It allows municipalities to ban or limit industry licenses, and it explicitly allows social-use clubs. And it offers a preference for medical dispensaries and responsible caregivers who apply to enter the adult-use market.
Does it matter that the program will be regulated by the Department of Agriculture, rather than by our Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Lottery? It makes the retained “Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol” campaign title a bit of a stretch, but in the big picture, probably not.
A common goal
Will the ability of municipalities to ban or limit cannabusiness licenses lead to geographic “dry” zones in Maine, like those in Oregon? Possibly. But it’s equally possible that economically-depressed regions in Maine might appreciate an opportunity to recoup some of the employment, investment, and tax opportunities lost in the painful demise of our paper industry.
None of this means that either group has abandoned their underlying philosophy, and post-legalization we can expect each to advocate for the type of regulation that makes most sense to them. But, we can hope that the shoulder-to-shoulder effort of running a political campaign over the next year will do more to break down remaining barriers than either side currently expects.
Success in 2016 will requires stakeholders to set aside their differences, and maintain a strict focus on the primary goal they all share, a goal that now seems more likely than ever before: Ending cannabis prohibition.
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