After months of reviewing applications, the Office of Marijuana Policy on Friday made public for the first time the list of about 300 people who are applying for more than 200 state licenses to cash in on Maine’s long-awaited recreational marijuana market. The list includes some surnames familiar to many Mainers, such as Baldacci, as well as […]
maine marijuana
Lawmakers strip secrecy and extraction rules out of marijuana bill in Maine
State lawmakers stripped the secrecy and extraction provisions from a marijuana bill Monday that would have allowed adult-use businesses to shield some license information from public scrutiny and driven up the price of infused foods, salves and tinctures. The Office of Marijuana Policy got the committee vote it needed to advance the rest of its department bill, […]
Maine now expects retail marijuana stores won’t be open until June
Maine pushes the target date for adult-use marijuana sales back by 3 months, and lowers its projected sales tax revenue for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Maine is planning to have its first recreational marijuana shops open in June, three months later than expected. State budget forecasters are banking on a robust kickoff, […]
Maine’s plan to ‘harmonize’ marijuana programs would wreak havoc, critics say
Maine wants to “harmonize” its medical and adult-use marijuana programs, but small growers, edible makers and retailers say the state’s proposed changes would drive them out of business and leave rural, cash-strapped patients without affordable medicine. The Office of Marijuana Policy told state lawmakers Wednesday that it wants the medical and adult-use programs to abide […]
Guidance issued for advertising marijuana products in Maine
Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy warns that advertising for medical- or adult-use marijuana businesses should not target people under age 21. Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy issued guidance Friday on how to advertise medical- and adult-use marijuana businesses without breaking state laws. The office issued the guidance after looking into concerns raised about marijuana-related advertising displayed at […]
Bill calling for secrecy in marijuana industry divides cannabis community in Maine
Efforts to keep some marijuana license details secret has divided Maine’s cannabis community: some see secrecy as protection from rivals and theft, while others worry it will allow out-of-state raiders to take over the local adult-use market. But the industry is united against a state proposal to deem alcohol-based extraction of marijuana oil a hazardous process, saying […]
Maine’s first legal marijuana businesses could open this spring
Maine officials have deemed dozens of applications to run marijuana businesses to be complete, a major step on the way to the first legal sales of the drug for recreational adult use. Mainers voted in favor of legal recreational marijuana use and sales in 2016, and the state is in the process of approving licenses […]
Massachusetts medical marijuana customers are buying cheap, good weed — in Maine
Ingrid Martinez is terminally ill and undergoing chemotherapy. Medical marijuana helps her alleviate her nausea and pain. Martinez, 50, a Lowell resident who worked in medical coding before she got sick, travels to Maine every three weeks or so to buy marijuana. Although she has a Massachusetts medical marijuana card, she said marijuana costs too […]
Slow rollout in marijuana sales costs Maine revenue and jobs
From legalization to legal sales, Maine is inching toward the slowest adult-use marijuana rollout in the U.S., with economists saying the three-year wait for stores to open will have cost Maine more than $82 million in taxes and 6,100 industry jobs. The delay has caused some investors and industry experts to take their dollars and […]
Marijuana testing labs: Will Maine have enough?
Maine is finalizing its testing rules for recreational marijuana, spelling out what a lab must do to get a state license and what safety and potency checks must be done on any marijuana products before they can be sold when the market opens in March. The proposed rules cover everything from how samples are collected (by the […]
