Maine’s Republican governor is proposing to delay cannabis sales until 2019, instead of passing a legislative re-write of the voter-approved cannabis law.

Earlier last month, lawmakers said they would postpone legalization of social cannabis sales until February. According to House Minority leader Ken Fredette, who is sponsoring a new moratorium bill on behalf of Gov. Paul LePage, lawmakers have not had enough time to absorb the details of the implementation bill.

“This option provides legislators with the opportunity to deal with this issue during the regular legislative session which starts in January, rather than having a straight up or down vote on the bill put forward by the committee,” Fredette said.

Senator Roger Katz, who co-chaired the cannabis committee, said he and others have been pushing to educate lawmakers about the proposal.

“We wish the administration had been more involved in this process,” said Katz. “We’ve spent a lot of time to put together a summary and talking points so people know what’s going to be voted on.”

The process that supports the implementation bill was a lengthy one that included months of deliberation by a special Marijuana Legalization Implementation Committee, which produced a bill earlier this month. House Speaker Sara Gideon said lawmakers had a chance to look at the preliminary text of the bill last Friday, and the final test was expected to be available Thursday afternoon.

The implementation bill would need a two-thirds majority to be able to go into effect immediately.

“By not taking action and not responsibly writing the rules to get this up and going, the black market just perpetuates,” said Rep. Teresa Pierce, D-Falmouth, who co-chairs the committee. “Marijuana stays in our school yards, it stays being sold on the street corner. That’s not the right way to keep people safe and healthy.”