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Marijuana Question Qualifies for South Portland Ballot

A South Portland citizen initiative aimed at making recreational marijuana possession legal for adults has qualified for the November ballot.  That's according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group which lobbies for reforming marijuana laws.  
 
"Voters were very receptive during the signature drive," says MPP Political Director David Boyer. "Most people agree law enforcement officials have more important things to do than punish adults for using a substance that is less harmful than alcohol."

The group organizing the petition drive, Citizens for a Safer Maine, submitted more than 1,500 signatures.  To be considered for the ballot, the group had to collect at least 959 valid signatures of registered city voters.

The initiative would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana, though smoking it or displaying it in public would remain illegal.  

The South Portland City Council is scheduled to decide whether to enact the measure or refer it to city voters at its meeting scheduled for Aug. 4.

Barbara grew up in Biddeford, Maine. She earned a master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Southern Maine.