Watching Maine

Yes, it feels like an England-Germany football match to me in over time or a Brit playing the fifth set tie-breaker in the Wimbledon final. If you look at the precincts that have not yet reported, Bangor is among them. Which is encouraging, if one assumes that urbanites are likely to be somewhat less anti-gay than country folk. On the other initiative, Maine has now become the third state to license medical marijuana dispensaries:

Under the measure, the state will license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and set rules for their operation. While 13 states permit medical use of marijuana, only Rhode Island and New Mexico have similar dispensary provisions, both of which were adopted by the states’ legislatures. Maine’s original medical marijuana law was passed in 1999.

“This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any state’s voters have authorized the state government to license medical marijuana dispensaries,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which drafted the initiative and provided start-up funding for the campaign. “Coming a decade after passage of Maine’s original marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact.”