LISBON

Marijuana will be the topic of discussion for two Midcoast towns on Thursday. Lisbon and Bowdoinham planning boards will try to craft regulations for the drug.

In Lisbon

Last week, the Lisbon Town Council enacted an emergency, 90-day moratorium for medical marijuana retail operations. That action arose from the town’s receipt of its first application for a retail medical marijuana business. The town’s existing marijuana moratorium didn’t cover retail medical operations.

The emergency moratorium was created to give the planning board time to include retail medical marijuana in the land regulations and categorize such businesses.

Town councilors stressed the need to have that on the books before it received more applications, but didn’t want it to appear as though the town was trying to stop future applications altogether.

“The intent of 90 days is to put it on land use,” said Council Chairman Allen Ward at last week’s meeting. “We don’t want to create a monopoly.”

Town Councilor Fern Larochelle noted at the Jan. 16 meeting more applications were likely to come in whether there is a delay or not. The council was in agreement the 90-day delay was the best way to address medical marijuana store- fronts.

In Bowdoinham

Bowdoinham’s planning board will tackle recreational use, which was approved in Maine in a statewide referendum in November 2016.

At the 7 p.m. meeting, the planning board will conduct a public hearing regarding recreational marijuana establishments and social clubs to allow for public comment.

The board would like to know whether such establishments should be allowed in Bowdoinham, and if there should be restrictions on location. The planning board will also discuss what regulations a recreational facility would have to meet, should they be allowed in the town.

chris@timesrecord.com