An Act to Support Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Reference to the Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation suggested and ordered printed.
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1197
Committee: Marijuana Legalization Implementation
Sponsors: BEEBE-CENTER, MAKER, BLUME, MALABY, PARKER, WARREN, SAVIELLO
Amends: 5 MRSA §20010, 36 MRSA §1817

Legislative Document
No. 1197
H.P. 834
House of Representatives, March 28, 2017
An Act to Support Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment 
and Recovery
Reference to the Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation 
suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BEEBE-CENTER of Rockland.
Cosponsored by Senator MAKER of Washington and
Representatives: BLUME of York, CASÁS of Rockport, MALABY of Hancock, PARKER of 
South Berwick, WARREN of Hallowell, Senator: SAVIELLO of Franklin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §20010 is enacted to read: 
§20010.  Fund for Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and Recovery 
1.  Fund established.  The Fund for Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment 
and Recovery, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established as a nonlapsing fund 
for the purposes specified in this section as a separate and distinct fund for accounting 
and budgetary reporting purposes. 
2.  Sources of fund.  The State Controller shall credit to the fund: 
A.  All money received from the tax imposed on the retail sale of marijuana and 
marijuana products pursuant to Title 36, section 1817, subsection 7, paragraph A; 
B.  Money from any other source, whether public or private, designated for deposit 
into or credited to the fund; and 
C.  Interest earned or other investment income on balances in the fund. 
3.  Use of fund; supplemental funding.  The fund must be distributed and used for 
the following purposes: 
A.  Twenty-five percent to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention for 
prevention of substance use disorder.  The Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention shall work with the department to establish and maintain a program 
pursuant to subchapter 2; 
B.  Twenty-five percent to the department for programs for persons recovering from 
substance use disorder including mental health services, to enable those persons to 
avoid relapsing; and 
C.  Fifty percent to the department to provide treatment services for substance use 
disorder pursuant to section 20043, including providing grants to community service 
providers pursuant to section 20005. 
Funds distributed for the purposes specified in this subsection are intended to supplement, 
not supplant, funds appropriated for those purposes. 
4.  Use of fund restricted; report.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
funding allocated by the Legislature from the fund to the Maine Center for Disease 
Control and Prevention or the department for substance use disorder prevention and 
treatment pursuant to subsection 3 is restricted solely to that use and may not be used for 
other expenses of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the 
department.  By January 15th of each year, the commissioner or the commissioner's 
designee shall deliver a report of the budget, including the revenue received pursuant to 
subsection 2, and expenditures for substance use disorder prevention and treatment to the 
joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and 
financial affairs and health and human services matters; 
5.  Unencumbered balances.  Any unencumbered balance remaining at the end of 
any fiscal year lapses to the fund and may not be made available for expenditure without 
specific legislative approval. 
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §1817, sub-§7, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 5, §3, is amended to 
read: 
7.  Application of tax revenues.  All sales tax revenue collected pursuant to this 
section must be deposited in the General Fund.  Sales tax revenue derived from the sale 
of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products pursuant to this section may not be used 
to directly fund any new state programs except that this revenue may be appropriated to 
the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for the purpose of training law enforcement 
personnel on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products laws and rules.  Funds 
appropriated to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy pursuant to this subsection may be 
used only for the actual costs incurred to provide the necessary education and training of 
law enforcement personnel as provided in this subsection. 
A.  Ten percent of the revenue must be deposited by the State Controller in the Fund 
for Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and Recovery established in Title 
5, section 20010; 
B.  Revenue may be allocated to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for the purpose 
of training law enforcement personnel on retail marijuana and retail marijuana 
products laws and rules.  Funds appropriated to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy 
pursuant to this subsection may be used only for the actual costs incurred to provide 
the necessary education and training of law enforcement personnel; and 
C.  The balance, after the distributions pursuant to paragraphs A and B, must be 
deposited in the General Fund. 
Sec. 3.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect February 1, 2018. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes the Fund for Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment and 
Recovery and funds it by requiring 10% of the tax revenue from the retail sale of 
marijuana and marijuana products to be deposited in the fund.  The fund is used for 
substance use disorder prevention, recovery and treatment programs administered by the 
Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention.  This bill specifies that the additional funding for existing programs for 
substance use disorder, treatment and recovery is intended to supplement, not supplant, 
funding appropriated for those purposes.