The town of Farmington has joined other communities in Maine in approving a six-month moratorium on retail sales of marijuana and social clubs where pot can be consumed.
Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis said the moratorium will give the town time to come up with a plan for regulating sales and possible social club locations.
“The Planning Board will develop performance standards for retail marijuana establishments and retail marijuana social clubs over the next several months,” Davis said Wednesday. “These may be ready for our annual Town Meeting in March.”
Joshua Bell, chairman of the Farmington Board of Selectmen, said the question “easily passed” Tuesday night in a show of hands vote at a special town meeting.
Voters in Farmington, where a campus of the University of Maine is located, said “yes” to Question 1 Nov. 8 by a vote of 2,055 to 1,877.
The Portland City Council also voted unanimously Monday night to approve a six-month moratorium that will give the city time to develop regulations governing retail marijuana establishments. The Portland moratorium, which takes effect immediately, will delay the opening of any stores, cultivation facilities, testing facilities or social clubs that sell marijuana for consumption, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Meanwhile, in Skowhegan, selectmen Tuesday night directed Town Manager Christine Almand to ask the Planning Board to come up with an ordinance that would ban such marijuana establishments. The process in Skowhegan will be to have planners write the ordinance and have a public hearing before a final vote of the people at the annual Town Meeting or as a referendum question in June.
In Oakland Tuesday night, town officials considered options to impose licensing restrictions or to declare Oakland a “dry town,” forbidding the sale of marijuana and the establishment of social clubs. Residents in Oakland voted no on Question 1 by a margin of 1,914-1,620, as did voters in Skowhegan, where residents voted 2,152-1,879 against Question 1 on the statewide referendum ballot.
Local rules on marijuana social clubs and retails sales of recreational pot were approved on the statewide ballot, but there is a recount underway. The new law takes effect within 40 days of the election. Regulations for marijuana-related businesses are scheduled to be in place by Aug. 8, 2017.
Marijuana is still illegal under federal law and is legal only for medical use under state law. With the passage of Question 1 on Nov. 8, adults 21 and older are allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, grow their own plants and buy marijuana from licensed retail stores. The initiative also allows marijuana social clubs and places a 10 percent sales tax on marijuana. Marijuana use would be prohibited in public, with violations punishable by a $100 fine.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter:@Doug_Harlow
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