As of Monday, possession of a certain number of hypodermic syringes in Maine is no longer punishable with criminal penalties—a move that harm reduction advocates say will help stem the drug overdose crisis and turn the state away from failed “War on Drug” policies. The law, passed in June, also allows a person to possess…
The Maine Senate voted 18-14 Wednesday night to kill a bill that advocates say would have begun to move Maine away from decades of failed, punitive “War on Drugs” policies by decriminalizing possession of scheduled drugs and making it a civil violation. Senate President Troy Jackson of Aroostook County, Sen. Ned Claxton of Androscoggin, a…
As a new report released by the Maine Attorney General’s Office shows that drug overdose deaths this year are on pace to rise past the record numbers seen in 2020, advocates are urging elected officials to pass legislation that would move the state away from criminalizing substance use and toward treating it as a public…
Members of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association and the Maine Medical Association on Monday voiced support for a bill that could significantly reform Maine’s drug sentencing laws. The Criminal Justice Committee is considering legislation, LD 1492, introduced last year by state Rep. Pinny Beebe-Center (D-Rockland), that would attempt to bring Maine in line with other states…
With the State Senate poised to vote on a bill that would guarantee access to earned paid sick days, equal rights advocates joined female lawmakers at a State House press conference Thursday to voice their support for LD 369, saying the policy is particularly important for women in Maine. “In the past, I had to make…