Two Democratic legislators from Portland have introduced bills to legalize adult recreational marijuana use, saying the state should accept their presumption that weed is here to stay.
The question, they said, is how society should deal with that fact — continue to outlaw marijuana or attempt to regulate it the same way society regulates the legal drugs of tobacco and alcohol.
“As a former police officer, we know that this war was lost a long time ago,” said Rep. Mark Dion, a former Cumberland County sheriff and one of the lawmakers pushing legalization. Speaking during a public hearing on the two bills in the Criminal Justice Committee, he said society should treat marijuana the same way it treats alcohol — by encouraging responsible use and seeking to help those for whom responsible use is impossible.
Read more at http://bangordailynews.com/2015/05/20/politics/portland-lawmakers-make-pitch-for-legal-pot/