AUGUSTA, Maine — It’s been well-reported that there are two competing groups trying to place marijuana legalization on the state ballot in 2016. The two plans differ in how much marijuana can be sold, how many retail operations will be allowed, and even which state agency should license growers and sellers.

Despite some overtures at cooperation to get a single ballot question to voters next year, it’s unlikely that the two groups — Marijuana Policy Project and Legalize Maine — will join forces. Both want to “free the plant,” but they have very different visions for what legalization should look like.

The legislation proposed by the LePage administration would add restrictions governing the 1,700 small caregivers who grow and distribute the drug.

AUGUSTA — The economic and political tensions within Maine’s thriving medical marijuana industry were on full display Friday as patients, suppliers and regulators sparred over proposals by the LePage administration to add teeth to rules governing marijuana caregivers.

In a sweeping set of proposals released this week, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services seeks to limit the amount of marijuana caregivers can distribute to patients, allow the department to investigate caregiver operations and stiffen penalties for violations.

The legalization of marijuana – no matter how sticky the parameters – will undoubtedly bring the people behind the scenes of a billion-dollar industry to the forefront. 

Women, in fact, comprise a large portion of growers, dispensary owners, and canna-business professionals. 

To help them emerge from the shadows and connect, Women Grow was established last year in Denver, Colorado. Since then, it’s provided a professional network for both established entrepreneurs and newbies of the cannabis industry.

With monthly events for women – and men – in 25 plus cities across the country, Women Grow is launching a Portland chapter this week with its first networking event on May 7th at McCormick Mansion.

Pro marijuana advocates in Maine are expected to start collecting signatures to get recreational pot on the ballot in 2016 following approval Tuesday of a petition by the Secretary of State's office, the Associated Press reported. Legalize Maine submitted its proposal 10 weeks ago, and hoped to put through the petition pushed without help from outside marijuana groups.  

AUGUSTA — Medical marijuana patients, their caregivers and dispensary representatives on Monday urged lawmakers to support a bill that would allow patients to use smokeless forms of the drug in hospitals.

During more than two and a half hours of testimony before the Health and Human Services Committee, patients and caregivers described situations in which patients have been denied access to their cannabis therapy or were forced to take it surreptitiously because most Maine hospitals prohibit its use.

But several representatives of hospitals and doctors said allowing medical marijuana in the facilities puts them in the position of potentially losing federal certification and funding.

AUGUSTA — Melissa Burnham is allowed to send drugs such as Ritalin, a stimulant, or Valium, a sedative, to school with her 8-year-old son, as long as he has a prescription.

But she cannot send the medicine that best treats Noah’s sometimes-severe epileptic seizures.

“When he has seizures, cannabis is what stops them,” Burnham said.

She was forced to pull Noah out of school recently and arrange for a tutor to come to their house. Not because the school didn’t want to help, she said, but because the law doesn’t allow cannabis.

Burnham, who lives in East Dixfield, shared her story Thursday before a public hearing before the Legislature’s Education Committee on a bill that would allow schools to provide accommodations for children who use medical marijuana.

South Portland's police chief is calling for more oversight of the medical marijuana industry in Maine.(Photo: NEWS CENTER)

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Maine campaign finance data confirms early reports that a nationally-backed marijuana legalization drive is raising more money than a local organization with the same goal.

The reports said the Committee to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol raised $51,155 between January and the end of March. The group is an effort of the national Marijuana Policy Project. Local group Legalize Maine raised $30,285 in the same period.

Almost all of the money raised by the Committee to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol came from Marijuana Policy Project. Legalize Maine's money came from a variety of Maine donors.

We know the end is coming, but pot prohibition is going to have to be undone state by state. Here are the ones least likely to jump on the bandwagon.

Marijuana prohibition in the US is dying, but it isn't going to vanish in one fell swoop. Even if Congress were to repeal federal pot prohibition, state laws criminalizing the plant and its users would still be in effect—at least in some states.

And it's probably a pretty safe bet that Congress isn’t going to act until a good number of states, maybe more than half, have already legalized it. That process is already underway and is likely to gather real momentum by the time election day 2016 is over.

AUGUSTA — In a first for Maine’s medical marijuana industry, the state has hired an outside group to inspect growing operations, a move criticized by advocates who say the process hasn’t been well-outlined.

In March, the Maine Department of Human Services signed a one-year, $167,000 contract with the Maine Sheriffs’ Association to inspect growing operations across the state. David Sorensen, a DHHS spokesman, said it’s primarily for “caregivers,” allowed under state law to grow marijuana for up to five patients who have gotten recommendations from doctors to use the drug.

At the beginning of 2014, when Colorado became the first state to allow the sale of marijuana for recreational use, the whole world was watching. “It was insane,” says Toni Fox, owner of Denver’s 3D Cannabis Center, where the first sale happened. “On January 1, there were close to 200 reporters here. Controlled chaos. It was just packed with reporters.”

But the more successful Colorado’s model is and the more imitation it inspires, the less attention it will get. “Colorado is not going to be the top dog for much longer,” says Kayvan Khalatbari, co-owner of the Denver Relief dispensary. “I think it’s only a matter of time before Colorado really gets overlooked.”