Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
A day after a dramatic five-hour public hearing, the legislative committee that is shaping the new marijuana market's regulations began whittling away at its draft bill Wednesday in Augusta. The committee must complete its work by Thursday evening to get the bill ready for a late-October special session vote.
Among the areas of consensus:
* Ditching the idea of allowing dispensaries to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status as a way to help them raise money;
* Allowing medical marijuana and adult-use license holders to cultivate and manufacture in shared space;
* And keeping the 12-plant per property limit intact for adults who want to grow pot for personal use, but allow municipalities the discretion to expand that to 18 plants.
By lunchtime, the committee had cut out internet and drive-up sales and home delivery of adult-use cannabis. Some lawmakers said these parts of the bill made buying pot too easy, and others worried they would doom the bill with their more reluctant colleagues if left in.
The committee also quadrupled the state residency licensing requirement from the proposed six months to two years. Supporters said this would give Mainers "a leg up" in this emerging industry, while critics worried it would limit access to outside investors.
Lawmakers intended the residency requirement to be a concession to medical marijuana caregivers who had wanted a license preference when moving into adult-use sales. But lawmakers deemed such a preference unneeded since they decided not to limit the total number of recreational licenses.
The committee also voted to allow municipalities to reduce to 500 feet the current 1,000-foot buffer between adult-use marijuana businesses and schools that is included in the draft bill. The medical marijuana program in Maine only requires a 500-foot buffer, which means a bigger buffer might shut some existing medical marijuana caregivers or dispensaries out of the adult-use business.
After extensive debate, the committee decided to keep the 12 plant, adult-use cap in place, but to extend municipalities the right to expand that limit to 18 plants on any one parcel.
The personal grow debate consumed the committee before lunch. The draft bill had capped total personal grow at a dozen plants on a single piece of property.
Supporters said this limit would discourage the diversion of excess grow into the black market. It was added to the bill at the suggestion of Colorado regulators, who warned them about the peril of large personal grows, and how hard they are to oversee.
Under this proposal, a medical marijuana patient who grows their six plants could grow another six adult-use plants on their property. A couple who were both patients and growing 12 plants on a single piece of property could not grow any recreational plants.
But opponents saw this limit as an attack on the freedom of medical patients to grow enough of the medicine they need.
Critics also said the limit would hurt poor rural farmers who want to lease out their property to a group of personal growers, especially on large pieces of property where larger grows would not affect neighbors. The draft bill already has fence and odor safeguards.
The committee will examine tax rates and other issues through Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lawmakers adopt new limits, allowances on recreational pot laws - Portland Press Herald
Author: Penelope Overton
Contact: Feedback - Press Herald
Photo Credit: Joe Phelan
Website: The Portland Press Herald - Maine Sunday Telegram
Among the areas of consensus:
* Ditching the idea of allowing dispensaries to convert from nonprofit to for-profit status as a way to help them raise money;
* Allowing medical marijuana and adult-use license holders to cultivate and manufacture in shared space;
* And keeping the 12-plant per property limit intact for adults who want to grow pot for personal use, but allow municipalities the discretion to expand that to 18 plants.
By lunchtime, the committee had cut out internet and drive-up sales and home delivery of adult-use cannabis. Some lawmakers said these parts of the bill made buying pot too easy, and others worried they would doom the bill with their more reluctant colleagues if left in.
The committee also quadrupled the state residency licensing requirement from the proposed six months to two years. Supporters said this would give Mainers "a leg up" in this emerging industry, while critics worried it would limit access to outside investors.
Lawmakers intended the residency requirement to be a concession to medical marijuana caregivers who had wanted a license preference when moving into adult-use sales. But lawmakers deemed such a preference unneeded since they decided not to limit the total number of recreational licenses.
The committee also voted to allow municipalities to reduce to 500 feet the current 1,000-foot buffer between adult-use marijuana businesses and schools that is included in the draft bill. The medical marijuana program in Maine only requires a 500-foot buffer, which means a bigger buffer might shut some existing medical marijuana caregivers or dispensaries out of the adult-use business.
After extensive debate, the committee decided to keep the 12 plant, adult-use cap in place, but to extend municipalities the right to expand that limit to 18 plants on any one parcel.
The personal grow debate consumed the committee before lunch. The draft bill had capped total personal grow at a dozen plants on a single piece of property.
Supporters said this limit would discourage the diversion of excess grow into the black market. It was added to the bill at the suggestion of Colorado regulators, who warned them about the peril of large personal grows, and how hard they are to oversee.
Under this proposal, a medical marijuana patient who grows their six plants could grow another six adult-use plants on their property. A couple who were both patients and growing 12 plants on a single piece of property could not grow any recreational plants.
But opponents saw this limit as an attack on the freedom of medical patients to grow enough of the medicine they need.
Critics also said the limit would hurt poor rural farmers who want to lease out their property to a group of personal growers, especially on large pieces of property where larger grows would not affect neighbors. The draft bill already has fence and odor safeguards.
The committee will examine tax rates and other issues through Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lawmakers adopt new limits, allowances on recreational pot laws - Portland Press Herald
Author: Penelope Overton
Contact: Feedback - Press Herald
Photo Credit: Joe Phelan
Website: The Portland Press Herald - Maine Sunday Telegram
