By Lauren McCauley | Editor
“To make a bad poker reference, they are ‘pot committed.” - state Rep. David Boyer of Poland, on the national anti-cannabis group bankrolling a petition effort to roll back legalization.
Alex Perez from Connecticut looks on at the Woodfords Club polling location in Portland on June 9, 2026 as a voter signs a petition in support of holding a referendum to roll back Maine’s laws on recreational cannabis use. (Photo by Jim Neuger / Maine Morning Star)
By Emma Davis
The effort to repeal recreational cannabis had seemingly gone quiet after the campaign missed the winter deadline to submit signatures to get on the November ballot. Now with about 40,000 of 67,682 signatures needed, the campaign is eyeing the November 2027 ballot.
As the campaign — which appears to be almost exclusively driven by out-of-state interests — plans to continue signature collecting through the summer, local cannabis supporters are getting organized in opposition.
By Kaitlyn Budion
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree gathered state agencies and other forestry organizations for a roundtable discussion in Portland on Thursday about the impact of recent changes at the Forest Service and their concerns about future reorganizing.
By Jacob Fischler and Jonathan Shorman, States Newsroom
Democrats are growing hopeful they can recapture the U.S. Senate in this fall’s midterm elections amid President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval ratings.
But they still need nearly everything to break their way against a map that put them at a starting disadvantage, analysts and campaign officials say.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nationwide survey shows ongoing struggles for pregnant patients on Medicaid | Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Stateline
As Trump’s immigration dragnet grows, so do complaints of detention center conditions | Ariana Figueroa, States Newsroom
Trump administration tightens oversight of state Medicaid demonstration programs | Nada Hassanein, Stateline
Family planning organizations sue Trump administration over Title X funding announcement | Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Stateline
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