On January 3rd, over 90 stakeholders from across Maine—farmers, employees, patients, and consumers—gathered to discuss the upcoming legislative battle in 2025 and the significant issues facing Maine’s Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis markets, particularly with the state’s now-infamous Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP).
This free event, which included a complimentary lunch, was hosted by State House Representative and VLA Committee member David Boyer at the Senator Inn in Augusta, Maine. Several other State Representatives and Senators, both Republican and Democrat, also attended on their own time. The event featured lively discussions with the following agenda:
● 8:30 am – 9:30 am /// Coffee Social Hour
● 9:30 am – 10:00 am /// Introductions
● 10:00 am – 11:00 am /// Testing Discussion
● 11:00 am – 12:00 pm /// Office of Cannabis Policy Discussion
● 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm /// Lunch
● 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm /// Adult-Use Tax Discussion
● 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm /// Social Club Panel
● 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm /// 132nd Legislative Session Strategy
● 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm /// Open Mic
While it was clear that not everyone agreed on every issue, there was one point of unanimous consensus: Director John Hudak needs to be fired. As I’ve pointed out in previous articles, Hudak’s ties to Freedman and Koski, the firm hired to draft adult-use legislation not just in Maine but across several states, raise serious concerns.
This firm played a significant role in shaping cannabis laws that favored large corporations, such as Metrc, at the expense of the people. After the firm dissolved in 2022, Lewis Koski served as COO of Metrc, and John Hudak became the Director of Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy. Maine’s medical cannabis program remains one of the few in the country that doesn’t require mandated tracking or testing.
Throughout the summit, the conversation was heated but focused. A representative from a testing lab voiced concerns that Maine OCP wasn’t even testing for the correct mycotoxins and noted that “over 90% of the microbes we found are, in public relationship terms, almost entirely benign—except for the most severely immunocompromised.”
The department has long pushed for state-mandated testing, a battle that has grown tiresome for many. In response, I proposed a “This Product Is Not Tested” label requirement, which would make consumers/patients aware that the product has not undergone testing.
This would allow the market to determine whether or not consumers choose to purchase untested products, encouraging farmers to test their products based on market demand rather than being driven by lobbyists or lawmakers. This simple, common-sense proposal compromises the ongoing fight for state-mandated testing and the need for transparency.
Matt Bayliss of Garden of Gele also raised a critical point about the $300,000 gamma-ray remediation machines that some operators use to pass testing in the adult-use market. These machines, which are increasingly common in Maine, are not unique to the state. “We shouldn’t be forced through this bottleneck to buy $300,000 machines just to comply,” Bayliss said, stressing the harm this creates for the industry. During this session, he is working on a legislative bill that addresses definitions of remediation and labeling requirements.
Despite the legislative chaos in the adult-use market, the medical program in Maine has successfully avoided many of these overregulations. Lizzy Hayes of Art and Craft Cannabis provided a calm, logical perspective on proposed legislative changes.
She discussed a bill that would give farmers greater flexibility with energy-efficient cultivation practices, allow employees to begin working as soon as they register for a RIC or ICC card, and remove unnecessary testing for yeast, mold, and mildew—tests that often fail to distinguish between harmful and harmless microbes. Her bill also aims to lift the prohibition on collectives in the medical program and clarify fencing requirements to support better agricultural practices like crop rotation and shared land use.”
The Maine Cannabis Summit 2025 was an eye-opening event highlighting the critical challenges of Maine’s cannabis market. From the pushback against mandatory testing to the need for regulatory reform, it was clear that the industry is at a crossroads.
Stakeholders from all market sectors came together to advocate for more sensible, patient-focused policies, and the discussion will undoubtedly continue as we move toward the 2025 legislative session. The voices at the summit are unified in their desire for a cannabis program that works for everyone—farmers, patients, consumers, and the broader community—and we will continue pushing for reforms that promote transparency, fairness, and accountability in Maine’s cannabis laws.
This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the views of Beard Bros Pharms.
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?
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.
