Every few years, Maine tackles “illicit grows,” usually by applying more restrictions on the legal cannabis market. Are we fighting illegal activity or simply layering Prohibition-era suspicion onto a legal industry? While compliant caregivers and small businesses follow strict regulations, pay taxes and support communities, the impulse to overregulate them when illicit actors appear is a misguided impulse. 

Increased regulatory burdens — extra tracking, reporting and documentation — disproportionately harm small, licensed operators, raising entry barriers and, ironically, helping the illicit market thrive. True illegal operators, those disregarding pesticide rules or transporting products across state lines, must be stopped. Targeted enforcement against criminal enterprises is different from broad, punitive action that harms law-abiding businesses. 

If cannabis were treated like any other agricultural product, we would not react to illegal farming by penalizing lawful farmers. Maine boasts a premier, small-scale medical caregiver program. Rather than subjecting these operators to crippling bureaucracy, policy should focus on those operating outside the law. 

The goal should not just be more regulation, but wiser, proportional policy that reflects the reality of a legalized, professional industry. We must stop building policy in the shadow of prohibition and start regulating with the maturity of legalization.

Tammy Smith
President, Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine
Pittsfield