December 13 was the effective date for bills passed by the 128th Legislature, including LD 1539, An Act to Amend Maine’s Medical Marijuana Law. Prior to this amendment, medical marijuana stores had gotten around the five-patient limit by eliminating one patient from their roster when the next one walked through the door. The law now formally allows medical marijuana caregivers to serve an unlimited number of patients, eliminating the need for them to maintain these “rolling rosters.” The law also specifically prevents medical marijuana storefronts from locating in a municipality unless that municipality has affirmatively passed a zoning or other ordinance which specifically allows them.
If a municipality already has one or more medical marijuana storefronts which are operating with some type of land use approval, the law does not allow that municipality to now prohibit those particular stores. However, new stores and existing stores operating without municipal approval will not be considered legal unless and until the municipality “opts in” by enacting an ordinance to allow them. We are working with many of our municipal clients to develop licensing and zoning ordinance provisions to address both adult use and medical marijuana establishments now that we have a solid legislative framework governing the scope of municipal authority.
Updates and commentary from Preti Flaherty's municipal law attorneys.
