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Marijuana legalised in Maine

Published:Thursday | November 7, 2013 | 12:00 AM
In this April 24 file photo, 1/4 ounce (left) and one ounce of marijuana are displayed along with a handful of joints at a dispensary in Denver. Nearly a year after Colorado legalised recreational weed, the state's voters are deciding how to tax the drug. - AP

PORTLAND (AP):

Maine's largest city legalised possession of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in a vote that has been eyed as an indicator of support levels in the Northeast, following last year's votes out West.

The proposal, making it legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to two and a half ounces of pot in the city, received about 67 per cent of the vote in unofficial citywide results. Buying or selling marijuana, or using it in public places, would remain illegal.

The vote in Maine, where medical marijuana has been legal since 1999, came a year after Washington and Colorado voters passed statewide referendums legalising possession of up to an ounce of pot by adults 21 and over.

"Portland is just one domino in a series of dominoes that have been falling," said David Boyer, Maine political director for the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project. "With the overwhelming support that we got, you can definitely tell it's a mandate over here in Portland, that our current policies aren't working for marijuana and that they want change."