LEWISTON — A national advocate for the legalization of marijuana was in Maine this week meeting with campaign donors and journalists.

Rob Kampia, the co-founder and executive director the Marijuana Policy Project, said his organization is looking to add Maine to a growing list of states that have made marijuana legal for recreational use by adults.

Kampia said the route to legalization in Maine could be either through the state Legislature or the ballot box in a statewide referendum but he predicted Maine would make marijuana legal by 2016.

“Unlike a lot of states where most politicians are bad on the issue, in Maine, by far, there is the most support among state legislators,” Kampia said. “Perhaps not enough to pass the bill all the way through but it will certainly be tried again in the state Legislature, if not in 2014, then in 2015.”

In a close vote in June, the Maine House of Representatives rejected a bill that would have put the issue before voters in 2014. That bill, offered by Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, could resurface or a bill that simply moves to legalize marijuana without a statewide vote could move forward, Kampia said.

Kampia said if lawmakers don’t act, his group will begin a petition for a statewide referendum on the issue in the spring of 2015. He said they preferred having the Legisalture act or put the issue before voters, as that would be the least expensive way to accomplish his group’s goal.

Some who oppose legalizing marijuana for adults to use recreationally include members of law enforcement and some people involved Maine’s medical marijuana industry.

Opponents, including the Maine Chiefs of Police Association and the direct of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, said legalizing marijuana will lead to increased crime as Maine would become a prominent source for marijuana to be sold in other New England states where it would remain illegal.

“Law enforcement is constantly wrong on the marijuana issue,” Kampia said. “They opposed medical marijuana in Maine and they opposed medical marijuana in almost every state. They say the moon is going to fall from the sky and then it doesn’t fall, so they’ve lost their credibility on this issue.”

Kampia said his organization estimates that if marijuana were legal and regulated it could generate $9 billion a year in tax revenue. He also said the country would save an additional $9 billion in court, law enforcement and corrections costs associated with the prosecution of marijuana possession violations.

In Maine, the estimates are about $35 million in tax revenue and $10 million in savings, Kampia said.

David Boyer, who works for the MPP in Maine, said as they push for statewide legalization they are also working to pass local ordinances legalizing marijuana.

Portland voters will decide on a legalization ordinance this fall and Boyer suggested Wednesday the next cities they would try include Biddeford and Lewiston.

Kampia said Maine is an affordable state to campaign in because of its small population but also because polling data shows voters are ready to legalize it here.

So far, the states of Colorado and Washington have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Kampia said his group is focusing on Maine, California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada and Massachusetts for 2016.

sthistle@sunjournal.com