Like many states in recent years, Maine is considering marijuana legalization — but its proposal has an unusual feature critics are saying is unconstitutional.
Any magazine "whose primary focus" is weed could only be sold "in a retail marijuana store or behind the counter in an establishment where persons under 21 years of age are present," much like how pornography magazines are sold.
The provision is designed to appease legalization opponents, but some argue it is "unenforceable" and runs afoul of First Amendment protections. "The idea that stores can prominently display magazines touting the joys of drinking wine and smoking cigars, yet banish those that discuss a far safer substance to behind the counter, is absolutely absurd," said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project in 2013 of a similar proposal in Colorado, which failed on constitutional grounds.
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