Bills that would ease Maine laws covering drug possession move forward without consensus pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Bills that would ease Maine drug possession laws move forward without consensus
One would make possession of various illegal drugs a civil violation rather than a criminal offense.
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Lawmakers have not been able to compromise on two bills that would relax Maine’s drug laws, including one that would make possession of drugs for personal use a civil violation instead of a criminal offense.
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee worked on both bills for weeks, but efforts to reach a deal fell apart Tuesday. The panel moved multiple versions of both bills out of committee, and it is not clear whether the full Legislature will be able to resolve the remaining conflicts.
Maine considers a new strategy in battle against opioid epidemic: decriminalization
Proposed legislation could make Maine the second state to stop arresting people for possessing small amounts of drugs such as opioids, and instead steer them toward treatment.
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Courtney Allen, policy director for Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, poses for a portrait recently outside the Maine State House in Augusta.
Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“But heroin is not something you can just stop doing,” she said.
She was not able to stop for 12 years. She did sex work. She contracted HIV. She was often homeless. And she was arrested more than two dozen times, mostly for drug possession. The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram has agreed not to name her because she works with people who use drugs and is worried about putting them at risk.
Maine considers a new strategy in battle against opioid epidemic: decriminalization pressherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.