Maine man claims group gathering signatures on marijuana petition misled him – WGME
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by Julia Simone,WGME
PORTLAND (WGME) — A group is gathering signatures, hoping to get voters to roll back recreational marijuana use in Maine.
It comes almost a decade after Maine voters approved recreational cannabis.
Now, some people signing these new petitions claim they were misled.
The petition would eliminate commercial marijuana cultivation, sales, purchases and manufacturing starting in 2028.
People would still be allowed to possess up to two and a half ounces for personal use.
Some are now criticizing the petition’s organizers, saying they were not given the full story before signing.
One man says he was approached at the Scarborough Walmart last week and asked for his signature.
He says these people were persistent and told him they were flown in from out of state, but he wasn't told the full story about what the petition would do.
He says the signature gatherers claimed the petition would test for pesticides inside marijuana and see if it was okay to use.
"I went home that night and was thinking, ‘That doesn't seem right,’ they didn't seem very straightforward or forthcoming with me, and they didn't want to show me the whole paper, the whole petition, they said they didn't have it on them," Devon Roy, who signed the petition, said.
Roy reached out to the Secretary of State for answers.
He was told once you sign a petition, your signature can't be taken back.
Now, the Secretary of State is encouraging people to read these petitions carefully.
"The challenge is voters signing something that they didn't take the time to read and then having that regret, because the law doesn't allow you to go back and get your signature redacted from the petition," Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said.
Roy says he has seen other people on social media who have been in the same situation as him.
He is now urging people to read the petition fully before you sign; something he didn't have the opportunity to do.
"I think that you should do your own research and kind of figure out what is actually going on rather than just listening to what those people have to say, but I honestly don’t know if they know," Roy said.
CBS13 reached out to the person who started the petition, but we haven’t heard back.
For this to make it onto the 2026 ballot, it would need about 68,000 signatures by early February.
As for the effect on the industry, the state's Office of Cannabis Policy reports the adult use retail cannabis program expanded from nearly $82 million in annual sales to more than $243 million last year.
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