Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy recently announced that the state will no longer require business owners to be residents.
This move will allow larger marijuana companies to enter Maine’s marketplace which has upset many.
It was in 2016 that marijuana business owners had voted to enforce residency requirements and this new move goes against what Maine voted for in the 2016 referendum.
One requirement of the referendum was that marijuana licenses only be given to Maine residents. The move will make it more difficult for local businesses to also compete.
Mark Barnett runs Higher Grounds and believes that allowing large out-of-state companies into Maine’s marijuana market will hurt small businesses.
“And now they don’t also have the support of the state, ensuring that they can have at least access to this market,” Barnett said.
Green Gnome Holistics owner Jennifer Greensmith said, “Having this one huge company come in and just say they have a monopoly over all of this, it’s super frustrating.”
“It very much feels like it’s going in the wrong direction as far as what we voted for,” Greensmith said.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re at where we’re at today,” Bernett said.