Maine’s weed laws are among the U.S.’ loosest. Lawmakers want to ease them further.

In last year’s campaign cycle, Sen. Craig Hickman of Winthrop and Rep. David Boyer of Poland each received more than $10,000 in campaign donations from the medical cannabis lobby. It was more than half of Boyer’s total campaign cash, and about a third of Hickman’s.

This year, they are the top lawmakers on the legislative committee that will hear competing legislation on whether to tighten or ease regulations on Maine’s medical cannabis industry, already among the least regulated anywhere in the country.

Hickman, a Democrat, and Boyer, a Republican, have left little doubt as to which side they support after calling for investigations into the state’s top cannabis regulator and signing on as co-sponsors of a bill that would ease growing and licensing rules for medical caregivers — a term used to describe anyone licensed to grow and sell medical cannabis, including individual and large-scale growers alike.

It’s neither uncommon nor illegal for lobbying industries to donate to lawmakers. But the close relationship between key legislators and industry members reflects how Maine’s medical pot lobby has used its influence to keep regulations minimal even as state officials and other lawmakers have expressed concerns that lax oversight creates safety concerns.

Lobbyists’ donations leverage greater influence in small-dollar races like Boyer’s and Hickman’s where candidates raise far fewer campaign funds than elsewhere in the country, according to OpenSecrets’ Director of Insights Brendan Glavin, who tracks money in politics for the nonpartisan nonprofit group.

“If you have somebody who is only raising around $20,000 to run their race, it’s very easy for one industry to come in and become the dominant donor,” he said. “That amount of money is not a huge difference maker in (a federal) campaign, whereas the lower you go down to these state legislative races, the contributions can have a much bigger impact.”

Hickman, who co-chairs the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, did not respond to interview requests or questions about his donors and legislation he has sponsored.

Boyer, the committee’s ranking Republican member, would not respond to specific questions but issued a written statement instead.

“My engagement with industry stakeholders, always conducted with full transparency, has been crucial in shaping policies that serve Maine’s people while fostering a responsible market,” he wrote.

Maine is one of the only states to regulate medical and recreational cannabis differently. It is the only state not to mandate mold and chemical testing in medical cannabis, and medical licensing laws have allowed hundreds of illegal “grow houses” allegedly associated with Chinese organized crime to find legal cover in Maine’s legal markets.

Rep. Marc Malon, D-Biddeford, is part of a bipartisan coalition looking to extend regulatory oversight of Maine’s medical industry, partly in response to those issues. He and other legislators have introduced bills to require contaminant and purity testing, track plants from seed to sale and mandate other safety precautions.

“I don’t want to overregulate the industry, but I also don’t want to underregulate it,” said Malon, who sits on the Veterans and Legal Affairs committee. “I think the push has been against any attempt to regulate, and that’s not what I want to see. I want the regulations to be appropriate for the industry.”

The lobby ramped up funding in last year’s campaign cycle as Hickman sought to retain his role as chair and Boyer looked to become the ranking Republican on the committee, extending the lobby’s influence beyond party lines.

In the 2024 election, Boyer received $10,490 from the medical pot lobby in his uncontested race, campaign finance disclosures show. Hickman took $10,120. It was more than either had taken from the lobby in campaigns past.

In 2022, Boyer took about $2,500 from the industry while Hickman received $6,270. When Hickman ran in a 2021 special election, about 10% of his funding came from the medical pot lobby: $8,480 total.

Boyer’s roots are in medical cannabis. Before winning his first election to the State House in 2022, he spearheaded the 2016 citizen initiative to legalize recreational pot in Maine and has long railed against most attempts to add any additional licensing, regulation or oversight on Maine’s medical cannabis industry.

Hickman, an organic vegetable farmer, sponsored an industry-backed bill passed last year that loosened regulations on both medical and recreational cannabis to bring them more in line with businesses that sell alcohol — requiring ID checks when a sale is made rather than at the door, allowing customers to take samples, and allowing minors to enter the businesses.

The duo’s efforts have galvanized support from cannabis companies, dispensary owners, medical growers, industry trade groups and more across the state, many of which crossed party lines to donate the same amounts on the same day to both candidates. Glavin, with OpenSecrets, says it’s a tactic employed by many industries across the country.

“The group contribution is the obvious one. A lot of times, what you see in these giving patterns is the executives, or people who could be business owners, or high-level people in the organizations that have an interest in certain policy,” he said. “They’re the ones out there giving maximum level contributions and it really amplifies the effect they can have as a group. And the average person isn’t going to realize that.”

On a single day, Dec. 20, 2023, the pot lobby cumulatively chipped in about $4,000 each to Hickman and Boyer, campaign disclosures show.

That day, Jar Consulting, who runs Jar Cannabis’ chain of medical and recreational dispensaries across Maine, contributed $500 to Boyer and $750 to Hickman. Central Maine dispensary chain Greenport LLC chipped in a few hundred bucks to them both. Matt Bayliss, founder of cultivation company Gele, gave $475 to both candidates. About a dozen other donors did as well.

“I am keenly observant and supportive of any bipartisan, nonpartisan politicians that can work together on issues,” Bayliss said of his donations Tuesday. “I think the partisan divide is tearing the country apart, tearing the state apart. The more I get involved with policy work and spend time in Augusta, I see it as petty.”

The Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, an industry group of dozens of cannabis businesses and growers, gave $420 to Boyer the same day, before donating another $250 to him and $200 to Hickman in the following months.

Other donors to both campaigns either declined to speak on the record, were not available for interviews or did not respond to requests for comment.

Hickman and Boyer have backed LD 948, proposed by Rep. Bill Pleucker, I-Warren, to double the amount of plants medical cannabis caregivers can grow and extend caregiver license lengths from one to two years.

The bill was heard by the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs last week and is one in a number of bills proposed this session to reduce regulatory oversight over Maine’s cannabis industries, many of which have sponsors from both parties.

“I’ve seen this issue unite Mainers across party lines. Common sense regulation, treating cannabis like alcohol, can strengthen legitimate businesses and tackle illegal grow sites through smart enforcement,” Boyer wrote.

Simultaneously, another bipartisan group is advancing a suite of bills to mandate tracking and testing in medical cannabis, set potency limits on medical edibles and generally bring the medical market’s regulations in line with recreational and the rest of the country.

Proponents argue the legislation will raise Maine’s cannabis quality, ensure product safety and stem the proliferation of organized crime and illegal grow houses into the state’s medical market.

Boyer, Hickman and industry members are voicing opposition to the efforts, arguing that Maine’s model is unique in keeping small cannabis businesses strong. It is one of the only states in the country where the medical market makes just as much if not more, money than its recreational counterpart — though that gap has narrowed in recent years.

Many in the cannabis industry, including about a dozen people who spoke during the committee hearing on LD 948, see deregulating Maine cannabis as a way to prevent what several described as “corporate consolidation” of cannabis businesses.

“Expanding plant counts is essential for keeping small businesses competitive in a market increasingly dominated by large, multistate operators,” Jennifer Belcher, president of the Maine Cannabis Union industry group, told the committee.

Boyer and Hickman have also increased scrutiny of the Office of Cannabis Policy and its director, John Hudak. The duo initiated an investigation into Hudak last month over his alleged ties with a firm hired to track recreational marijuana plants, and Boyer has in recent months begun circulating a petition to “Fire John Hudak.”

“Concerns about John Hudak’s leadership underscore the need for trust in our cannabis programs,” Boyer wrote in a statement. “I look forward to the findings of the Government Oversight Committee’s investigation into the appearance of conflict of interest at the Office of Cannabis Policy.”

Discussions about deregulating Maine’s cannabis are happening alongside what Hudak has described as a “mass exodus” of medical caregivers in recent years. The state has lost thousands of registered caregivers as the market became oversaturated with more weed than demand for it.

Skeptics worry deregulation may exacerbate the problem. Rep. Benjamin Hymes, R-Waldo, asked caregivers at VLA’s Wednesday meeting if doubling medical growers’ maximum plant count would further drive prices down. Some said yes, others said no.

Pleucker, the bill’s sponsor, said it would allow small-scale caregivers to grow more strains, diversifying the market and helping prices stay steady.

“The changes will not only improve the quantity of supply but also the variety of the medicine available,” he said Wednesday. “Supporting these caregivers is not only beneficial to them but also to a larger community of medical cannabis users.”