Mainers Are Getting Fewer Medical Weed Cards Now That It's Legal

Remember the old days?

It's only been about a dozen years or so since Maine made medical cannabis legal here. And almost 6 years since it was made legal for recreational use. Before that, I remember listening to my hippie friends constantly complain about legalization. They'd all sit around puffing huge amounts of weed, yakking about the man getting them down.

It never seemed they ever had any trouble finding it, so I never really saw the burning need to make it legal. Why bring the government into the whole thing? Then years later, I finally had a friend who legit had cancer and took full advantage of Maine's medical cannabis program. And frankly, weed made her life a LOT easier.

What about these days?

Well, that gets a bit more complicated. There are still plenty of Mainers who have their card, and run away with the advantages it offers. The biggest one being pricing. Prices at the med stores are generally waaay cheaper than rec stores. But the testing is not as rigorous, so there's advantages and disadvantages.

But according to WGME, since Maine legalized cannabis and got the market rolled out, certifications for med cards have dropped off. In fact, it's happening in all 18 states that offer recreational usage. Med cards dropped off. There could be any number of reasons.

For instance, here in Maine, if you have your med card, you cannot possess a firearm. Maine is a state that loooves its guns, so I can see people dropping out for that reason. Maybe it's the annual cost? Hard to say exactly. But this is the trend that seems to be happening across the country. Is this the beginning of the end of med cards? Time will tell...