Maine Lawmakers Reject Bill To Legalize Marijuana Consumption Lounges

A Maine Republican lawmaker is calling out colleagues for killing his bill that would have allowed marijuana consumption lounges to operate in the state.

On Monday, the House of Representatives voted 108-35 to adopt a committee’s recommendation not to pass the bill, LD 1365 from Rep. David Boyer (R).

The lawmaker said members of his own party were “about split” on the vote, wheres the “vast majority” of Democrats voted against allowing his cannabis legislation to advance.

Only seven Democrats voted against the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee’s majority report recommending that the bill not pass, while 65 members of the party supported the move to kill the legislation.

Among Republicans, 28 members voted against stalling the measure while 41 backed the motion.

“Maine lawmakers showed their contempt for voters today by killing the cannabis hospitality lounge bill,” Boyer, who led the fight to pass cannabis legalization at the ballot about 10 years ago when he was a staffer for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment.

“This was a core provision of the 2016 citizens initiative that Maine voters approved nearly ten years ago to legalize adult-use cannabis and create safe, regulated social consumption spaces,” he said, referring to portions of the legalization ballot measure that were later negotiated out by the legislature’s Marijuana Legalization Implementation Committee.

“There is no good reason to prohibit cannabis hospitality lounges when we allow adults to consume alcohol in public,” Boyer said “It’s time uphold the will of the voters and let adults be adults.”

Under the bill, municipalities would be able to license cannabis hospitality lounges where adults over the age of 21 could consume marijuana products. Local officials could also set fees on the businesses.

After being locally licensed, the facilities would not need additional approval from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy or other state officials.

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Meanwhile, a Maine campaign seeking to significantly roll back the state’s marijuana law failed to submit signatures by a recent deadline to make the November 2026 ballot, meaning the anti-cannabis activists will need to shift their focus to 2027 if they hope to put the issue before voters.

If approved, the initiative would end regulated recreational marijuana sales as approved by voters in 2016. Possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis would remain legal, but adults would no longer be able to grow plants for personal use or buy adult-use cannabis from licensed stores.

The campaign behind the measure has criticism from reform advocates, industry stakeholders and certain lawmakers over allegedly misleading signature gathering tactics,

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.