AUGUSTA, Maine — The lawmakers who will be at the center of debate around the implementation of Maine’s marijuana legalization laws were named Monday.
The Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation, which was announced on the first day of legal recreational marijuana in Maine, sets the stage for what figures to be up to a year of developing rules around the sales, taxation and regulation of the substance. Dozens of marijuana-related bill titles have already been submitted by lawmakers.
The members of the Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation are as follows:
Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, co-chairman
Sen. Kimberley Rosen, R-Bucksport
Sen. Joyce Maker, R-Calais
Sen. Mark Dion, D-Portland
Sen. Susan Deschambault, D-Biddeford
Rep. Teresa Pierce, D-Falmouth, co-chair
Rep. Kimberly Monaghan, D-Cape Elizabeth
Rep. Scott Hamann, D-South Portland
Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop
Rep. Erik Jorgensen, D-Portland
Rep. Lydia Blume, D-York
Rep. Donald Marean, R-Hollis
Rep. Bruce Bickford, R-Auburn
Rep. Lance Harvell, R-Farmington
Rep. Patrick Corey, R-Windham
Rep. Michael Perkins, R-Oakland
Rep. Kent Ackley, I-Monmouth
Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau of Winterport said the committee has a busy session ahead of it.
“There is an enormous amount of work ahead for this committee because of the myriad issues surrounding legalization that concern public safety, retail sales of the drug and state government oversight, to name a few,” said Thibodeau in a news release.
The committee was created earlier this month with a 114-28 vote in the House and with unanimous support in the Senate. In addition to considering marijuana-related bills, the committee has been given the authority to submit its own legislation. The committee is scheduled to disband at the end of the current legislative session, in June 2019.
