The Maine Legislature has given approval to legislation that doubles the current limit for the personal cultivation of marijuana.
House Bill 555, filed by State Representative David Boyer along with a bipartisan coalition of nine other lawmakers, has now been passed by both the House of Representatives and Senate. It will soon be sent to Governor Janet Mills for consideration.
According to its official summary the measure “increases the number of mature cannabis plants allowed for home cultivation from 3 to 6.”
The measure’s approval comes almost seven years after voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2016. The law allows those 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces and grow up to three mature marijuana plants, 12 immature plants and an unlimited number of seedlings.
House Bill 555 would retain the limit of 12 immature plants and unlimited seedlings, but would double the mature cultivation limit.
Data released by Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy shows that there was $16,289,077 in legal marijuana sold in April throughout Maine. This is a very slight decrease from the $16,622,537 in legal marijuana sales in March. Over the past 12 months only August saw more sales with $17,042,278.
In April alone there was over 1 million legal marijuana transactions.
