Lawmakers have just denied a GOP senator's effort to repeal voter-approved legalization of marijuana in Maine.

The legislation would have let voters in November decide whether to repeal a law allowing the commercial cultivation, sale, purchase, possession and use of marijuana by adults.

The House indefinitely postponed Republican Sen. Scott Cyrway's bill Tuesday with a 73-49 vote. The bill failed in the Republican controlled-Senate with an 18-13 vote.

Cyrway is a retired police officer who has long opposed recreational marijuana legalization. Recreational marijuana use by adults has been legal in Maine since 2017, and lawmakers this year passed legislation tweaking the voter-approved law to eventually allow commercial sales.

He argued Tuesday that lawmakers need to study marijuana use before Maine sees an epidemic.