Former Maine State Representative John Eder is a member of the Maine Green Independent Party, which is the Maine affiliate to the national Green Party. Eder represented the city of Portland in the Maine House of Representatives from 2003-2007.
In 2013, the Maine legislature debated L.D. 468, "An Act To Protect Public Health at Public Institutions of Higher Education." This bill would have prohibited smoking on the campus at any college or university in the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System or the Maine Maritime Academy. One person to speak passionately in favor of this bill was Eder, claiming that the smell of cigarette smoke was impeding his academic success.
My name is John Eder, I am a student at Southern Maine Community College [SMCC], a smoking campus, and I am asking you to please safeguard me and my fellow students from secondhand smoke by providing a healthy, smoke-free environment conducive to learning and success.
Eder's testimony continued about the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure, and urged the state senators to vote in favor of the bill. The bill was eventually vetoed by Maine Governor Paul LePage.
While it is certainly good and dandy to care about the effects of secondhand smoke, consistency is a virtue. Following Portland's vote on Tuesday that legalized possession and use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21, check out what Eder was up to:
Green Party activist John Eder smokes a joint at the "Yes on 1" headquarters in #Portland #maine Tuesday night... http://t.co/k1itmLUEiF
— Christopher Freeman (@Freeman0032) November 6, 2013
Brilliant pic from the pot legalization camp RT @Troy_R_Bennett Former State Rep. John Eder jumps the gun #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/rlhKE7qzQR
— Whit Richardson (@whit_richardson) November 6, 2013
In the BDN, @johneder is smoking what has to be the biggest blunt ever rolled. It is cannabis Maximus! http://t.co/5Jxpju3pxq
— Kevin Mattson (@Kevin_Mattson) November 7, 2013
Well then.
H/t to @MaineYRs