Gov. Janet Mills’ recent comments about Maine’s medical cannabis program are a total betrayal of the very people who helped get her elected—and a step backward for the industry as a whole. In her State of the Budget address, she casually dismissed Maine’s medical cannabis market, claiming, “It’s time to better regulate the medical market” and that “We can’t continue to encourage the ‘wild wild west’ of medical cannabis.” These statements, steeped in outdated prohibition rhetoric, not only misrepresent the state’s regulated program, but also reveal a disturbing agenda that threatens the livelihood of small cannabis farmers.
Mills’ remarks were particularly jarring given the financial backing she received from big cannabis corporations during her gubernatorial campaign. As reported by the Press Herald in 2019, Mills’ campaign was heavily funded by large dispensaries and corporate-backed cannabis interests. These are the same entities that stand to benefit from over-regulation—because, as we all know, more regulations disproportionately hurt small farmers who can’t afford to keep up with excessive rules and red tape.
Big corporations with deep pockets want the government to pile on regulations that small, independent farmers can’t compete with. These large players want to push out the mom-and-pop shops that have been the backbone of Maine’s cannabis program since its inception. Mills, by calling for more regulation, is helping to pave the way for corporate cannabis to dominate the market at the expense of the small farmers who built the industry from the ground up. It’s not just a betrayal of the patients who rely on cannabis for relief, but also a death sentence for small-scale growers who can’t survive under the weight of these heavy-handed regulations.
Her comments about the “wild wild west” of cannabis are equally frustrating. This isn’t some unregulated free-for-all. Maine’s medical cannabis market is already heavily controlled, with strict rules that ensure patient safety and product quality. Yet, Mills is suggesting more regulation, without providing any clear solutions to the very real problems patients and small farmers face: high taxes, limited access, and unnecessary hurdles that make it harder for people to get the medicine they need. And at the same time, these over-regulations will only serve to push the market into the hands of the big corporations who funded her campaign, further squeezing out small farmers and independent businesses.
It’s becoming all too clear that Mills is serving the interests of corporate cannabis at the expense of the small businesses and patients who rely on a more equitable system. She has consistently failed to stand up for the small farmers who made Maine’s cannabis program a success, and her recent comments show that she’s more interested in protecting the bottom line of big dispensaries than ensuring fair access for everyone involved.
Mills has failed to offer any meaningful solutions for patients or small-scale cannabis farmers. Instead of embracing ways to improve access and lower barriers, she’s clinging to corporate-driven policies that harm the very people who got her into office. This isn’t leadership—this is corporate influence at its worst.
Other states are pushing to expand their cannabis programs in a way that supports small farmers and provides patients with the care they need. But here in Maine, Mills is choosing to double down on a system that rewards big corporations and leaves small farmers in the dust. She will turn Maine’s cannabis program into a corporate monopoly, leaving independent farmers—and the patients who need them—behind.
Maine deserves better than this. It’s time for Gov. Mills to stop playing political games with the cannabis industry and start supporting the small farmers and patients who truly need reform. Until she does, her words and actions will continue to ring hollow to those who built this industry—and the people who depend on it for their health and well-being.
More work from Derek here at Beard Bros Pharms:
A Look Inside Maine’s Medical and Adult Use Cannabis Markets.
When Was Maine’s First Cannabis Recall?
RECAP: Maine Cannabis Summit Recap Hosted by State Rep. David Boyer
Keeping Secrets and Changing Laws: Maine OCP’s Masterclass in Political Sleight of Hand
29 Cannabis Bills Hit Maine Legislature—What’s at Stake for Small Farmers and Patients?
Derek Shirley was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19, he received a felony for 4 ounces of cannabis. After, he became a “cannabis nomad” living in Ohio, Arizona, and Maine, which he now calls home, and lives with his wife Sequoia and son Haze.
Being a cannabis nomad had its advantages, like relying on all markets for his medical cannabis needs which gives him a unique perspective of the cannabis markets. Currently, he is an influential pro-cannabis activist in the state of Maine who helps local people and small businesses navigate their local and state governments without picking a political party specializing in protecting and preserving the small medical cannabis farmers of Maine. For fun, Derek enjoys screen printing and making cannabis memes under the pseudonym @gettinghighwithcats on IG
