LePage said he intends to veto retail pot bill

Source: Portland Press Herald

Gov. Paul LePage plans to veto the recreational marijuana bill once it reaches his desk because it wouldn’t combine Maine’s medical and adult-use marijuana programs.

The two-term Republican doesn’t want two regulatory systems and tax structures for different uses of the same plant, according to his press secretary, Julie Rabinowitz.

“He was very explicit about problems with having two regulatory systems and tax structures,” Rabinowitz said of LePage’s opposition.

Lawmakers who support the compromise adult-use bill hope they will have enough votes to override LePage’s veto. The bill passed with veto-proof margins in the House and the Senate last week, but a veto could erode that margin, especially among House Republicans, who last year led the effort to sustain LePage’s veto of the first adult-use market bill. The new bill will land on LePage’s desk this week. He has 10 days to finalize his veto.

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Read more: https://www.pressherald.com/2018/04/16/lepage-said-he-intends-to-veto-retail-pot-bill/