Maine Governor Paul LePage would not only like to see the state’s recreational marijuana law repealed, but he also thinks the U.S. Department of Justice should swoop in an put an end to legal weed business for good.
During his weekly call-in segment on the Bangor-based WVOM talk radio, the governor said that he wished the state legislature had repealed the measure (Question 1) that ended prohibition and established a fully legal cannabis market in the Pine Tree State.
“I would have just repealed it and said, ‘Listen, federal law says it’s illegal, let’s move to the federal government and let them deal with this,’ ” LePage said. “In fact, I’m urging (U.S. Attorney General) Jeff Sessions to put the hammer down on states that have recreational marijuana.”
It should come as no surprise that LePage has such a negative outlook on marijuana legalization.
Last year, just a month before Question 1 went before the voters in the November election, he posted a video PSA suggesting that legalization would be bad for Maine because it would undoubtedly lead to higher rates of drug addiction.
“People addicted to marijuana are three times more likely to be addicted to heroin,” LePage said in the video, which, due to its lack of factual basis, was deleted less than 24 hours after its release. “Heroin is already killing seven Mainers a week. We do not need to legalize another drug that could lead to more deaths.”
As it stands, a special committee of the Maine Legislature is working to draft the regulations for the state’s recreational marijuana market. However, there are concerns that regardless of how the negotiations shake out, Governor LePage might excercise his discriminatory hand to slap the proposals with vetoes, reports the Portland Press Herald.
The governor recently vetoed a couple of bills – one pertaining to cell phones while driving and another to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco — because he does not “believe that social engineering a society is going to create a good society.”
