By Tom Angell

 

More than a month after Election Day, the opposition to Maine’s marijuana legalization initiative is conceding defeat and ending its push for a total statewide recount of the votes.

“We promised folks that if we came to a point where we could not see any chance of reversing the result, we would not drag the process out,” Newell Augur, legal counsel for No on 1, said in a press release on Saturday. “We are satisfied that the count and the result are accurate.”

After the results were counted on November 8, the legal marijuana measure won by just 4,073 votes.

That was close enough for opponents to request a recount without having to pay for it themselves.

Through Friday, approximately 30 percent of the votes had been recounted — including from all of the towns that opponents hand-picked as areas they thought they could best gain support — but it wasn’t enough to reverse the result. According to reports, the result only shifted by about 70 net votes.

The recount effort had been slated to recess through the holidays until the new year, unless opponents decided to conceded defeat. That’s what they decided to to on Saturday.

“The trend was moving in our direction, especially after the first week,” Augur said, “but after the second week it was clear that the trend was not going to move at the velocity we needed to change the result.”

David Boyer, campaign manager for Yes on 1, told Marijuana.com that he agreed “it was clear that the recount was not going to change the result.”

“We are grateful that the No on 1 campaign has conceded and look forward to working together towards a successful implementation of Question 1,” he said.

The measure will allow Mainers to possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana and to grow cannabis at home. It also legalizes storefronts where adults can purchase marijuana and clubs where they can consume cannabis together socially.

Legalization opponents, while conceding defeat on the ballot measure, vowed to play an active role in its implementation.

“This marks the end of the recount, but it does not mark the end of our efforts to protect the youth and communities of Maine,”Scott Gagnon, No on 1 campaign chair, said. “We look forward to dialogue with the Question 1 proponents and the lawmakers who will be involved in the rulemaking process.  It’s imperative we put rules and regulations in place that will minimize the impact on our young people. That will continue to be our mission going forward.”