The Second Regular Session of the 130th Maine Legislature was extended by one day and the Legislature is due to adjourn on April 21. This post provides an update with an overview of marijuana-related bills that were voted on by the Maine State Legislature this session, many of which are now on the Governor’s desk. The text of each bill is provided as a link. Adult Use Marijuana Program LD1827 – An Act To Permit Limited Delivery of Adult Use Marijuana would allow adult use marijuana stores to deliver immature marijuana plants, seedlings, adult use marijuana and adult use marijuana products to r ..read more

Adult Use Marijuana There will be a public hearing in front of the Maine State Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs (VLA) Committee on Monday, January 31 starting at 11:00 am. Importantly, this includes another opportunity to provide oral or written testimony on the provisionally adopted adult use marijuana program rule (via L.D. 1930, referenced below). The full text of the rule can be found here. The bills to be heard are as follows: L.D. 1927 “An Act To Authorize Certain Off-premises Sales of Adult Use Marijuana” – This bill authorizes the Department of Administrative and Financial Serv ..read more

This post is to provide important reminders/updates regarding licenses/registrations in Maine’s adult use and medical marijuana programs. Do Not Let Your Credentials Lapse (Individual Identification Cards, Caregiver/Dispensary Registrations, Assistant Cards, etc.) It is extremely important not only to pay attention to the expiration dates of your state and local licenses/registrations, but also to the expiration dates on your credentials and the credentials of your employees. In a post around this same time last year, we published guidance on the topic of adult use individual identification ca ..read more

Adult Use Marijuana There will be a public hearing held via Zoom in front of the Maine State Legislature’s Committee On Veterans and Legal Affairs on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, starting at 9:00 AM. (L.D. 1817) “An Act To Allow the State’s Adult Use Marijuana Tracking System To Track Plants and Products by Group” (HP1350) (Presented by Representative Supica of Bangor). The text of the bill can be found here. (L.D. 1827) “An Act To Permit Limited Delivery of Adult Use Marijuana” (HP1360) (Presented by Representative Perry of Bangor). The text of the bill can be found here. (L.D. 184 ..read more

On December 2, 2021, Visa published a compliance memo regarding cashless ATMs and the misuse of ATM transactions. The memo begins by saying, “Visa is aware of a scheme where POS devices marketed as ‘Cashless ATMs’ are being deployed at merchant outlets and are operating in violation of the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules and Plus Core Rules and Plus Product and Service Rules.” While the memo does not call out cannabis businesses specifically, it notes that cashless ATMs “are primarily marketed to merchant types that are unable to obtain payment services—whether due to the Vi ..read more

As required under state law, Maine’s Marijuana Advisory Commission submitted its annual report to the State Legislature on December 6, 2021. To read the full text of the report, click here. The report provides an update on the appointment of new members to the Commission and an overview of the most recent meeting of the Commission, which took place on November 9, 2021. The report also outlines issues that the Commission chairs anticipate raising in 2022 and includes a letter submitted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine on the topic of law enforcement contacts with citizens.  T ..read more

A public hearing on the proposed changes to Maine’s Adult Use Marijuana Program rule will take place starting at 10:00 am on Monday, October 18. If you are interested in attending, the address is: State House, State and Capitol Streets, Augusta, ME – Room 228, Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs Note that the proposed rule is different from the preliminary discussion draft of the rule that we posted previously, as it incorporates initial feedback OMP received from stakeholders. The most current version of the proposed rule is available with tracked changes from the ..read more

On September 28, 2021, Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (“OMP”) convened its first virtual meeting with the newly established Medical Marijuana Workgroup (“MMW”). Maine’s State Legislature, through Public Laws 2021, ch. 387 and Resolves 2021, ch. 95, directed OMP to fulfill certain stakeholder engagement requirements, which precipitated these meetings. The group will advise on regulatory issues and best practices for patient access and education while contributing to the development of Maine’s medical marijuana program. OMP selected the following individuals to participate in the MMW: Repre ..read more

Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (“OMP”) announced this week that they will be engaging in major substantive rulemaking related to the adult use marijuana program rule (“AUMP”) during the Second Regular Session of the 130th Legislature. They will be soliciting comments/feedback from stakeholders in the program starting this month and on a continual basis throughout this iterative process.  For initial comments on the preliminary drafts, OMP is offering the opportunity to meet with OMP directly to provide thoughts and feedback instead of submitting informal comments in writing as they ha ..read more

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