Maine’s marijuana czar says launching the adult-use industry by June is ‘simply unrealistic.’

The coronavirus pandemic has compelled Maine to put its planned June debut of the state’s long-awaited recreational cannabis market on indefinite hold.

“It now appears as though a spring launch of Maine’s adult use industry is simply unrealistic,” said Erik Gundersen, the director of the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy. “Public health experts have clearly communicated that they cannot answer what social distancing or other guidance may be in effect as we approach late spring and early summer.”

The pandemic also has forced local communities likely to host the industry’s first growing operations, processing labs, retail stores and testing labs to postpone authorizing these activities, Gundersen noted. Under state law, all recreational products must be tested for potency and safety before sales can occur.

Kennebunk was set to hold an April 7 referendum on whether to allow Nelson Analytical, a local lab that already tests medical marijuana, to begin testing recreational cannabis, too, but had to push that vote off until May because of the pandemic. Nelson was the first lab to apply for a state marijuana testing license. [Read More @ Portland Press Herald]