Cannabis
Out of more than 30 states with medical cannabis programs, Maine is the only one that doesn’t require testing for contaminants like pesticides, mold, and filth. LD 1847 (sponsored by Rep. Anne Graham and amended by Rep. Marc Malon) would change that. This proposed legislation, the result of more than a year-long negotiation between public health, adult use and medical program operators, patients, regulators, testing facilities, law enforcement, and other stakeholders, is a reasonable compromise that puts patient safety first, and providers supports for the smallest operators in the medical program.
“Medical cannabis patients should have the right to a safe medicine" - Carey Cadieux, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, RYT, FAAN, Associate Professor of Nursing at Binghamton University & Past President of the American Cannabis Nurses Association, Healthy Maine Talks Podcast (Listen here)
"It might not be as serious for a healthy person to consume cannabis tainted with pesticides, mold, or other toxins. But for me, burdened with a suppressed immune system from chemotherapy, it could be a death sentence. I have enough to worry about between managing my diagnosis and the health complications it poses. I should not be additionally troubled by fear that the drug I'm taking to help relieve my symptoms could also make me sicker." - Grace Connolly, 27 yr old medical cannabis patient with stage 4 liver cancer, Portland Press Herald (Read LTE here)
"Maine is the only state in the country where medical cannabis is not required to be tested and tracked. And this has directly led to the dramatic rise and spread of illicit cannabis operations in Maine...Untested and untracked cannabis products pose unnecessary risks to law enforcement officers. By requiring testing and tracking across the board, LD 1847 helps mitigate exposure to toxic contaminants, and balances oversight with operational efficiency...Please pass Rep. Graham’s bill with Rep. Malon’s amendment in order to give us the tools to fight these illicit grow houses, which are spreading throughout rural Maine." - Shared statement from Maine Sheriffs Association, Maine Chiefs of Police Association, Maine Department of Public Safety (Read full statement here)
"Having come from living in DC, and using their medical cannabis program for over three years, I can confidently say as both a user and a researcher that Maine’s Medical Cannabis Program lags far behind the national standard on safety and transparency. Out of more than 30 of states with medical cannabis programs, Maine is the only one that does not require testing for contaminants like heavy metals, pesticides, or mold....This lack of oversight is unfair to the thousands of people who use medical cannabis, including disabled patients and pediatric patients. They deserve to have confidence that the products they’re using to manage medical conditions are free from contaminants that could harm their health." - Kings Floyd, 30 yr old medical cannabis patient with LAMA 2 merosin deficient muscular dystrophy, testimony in favor of LD 1847 (Read testimony here)
"The fact that there’s no universal requirement for testing the potency of medical cannabis or limits on how much THC is available is very concerning to me, especially since kids 18 and older can access medical cannabis without going through a primary care provider" - Amy Mayhew, MD, Department of Psychiatry at Maine Medical Center, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Spectrum News (Read more here)
Nova Analytic Labs recently conducted its own testing of medical cannabis products, and found that 20.73% of the samples tested failed for pesticide contamination. Healthy Maine Talks: The Importance of Cannabis Testing (Listen here)
Factsheets
- Comparison of LD 1847 Amendments_Majority and Minority Reports (2026)
- LD 1847 Public Health Compromises Made to Benefit Industry Stakeholders (2026)