Marijuana operations in Brunswick have been blunted yet again, with one more 180- day moratorium approved this week.

The town council approved the final extension of the delay that applies to retail marijuana stores, facilities, social clubs and medical cannabis storefronts.

Last week, the Maine Legislature overrode Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill implementing regulations for adult use of marijuana. The bill was approved in reaction to a state vote in November 2016 to legalize recreational use and retail sale of marijuana. A statewide moratorium on licensing of retail marijuana facilities expired in February.

The bill established an opt-in for municipalities to allow the businesses.

“Unless or until you have a licensing program or a zoning ordinance that says these types of uses are allowed here, the state will not actually issue a license to a marijuana establishment,” said Kristin Collins, the town’s attorney.

Though the town would have to opt in, Collins encouraged extending the moratorium so the town can move through the zoning process.

“If there are certain zones that are unanimously agreed upon as a good place to put these, it would give people interested in going into the business in Brunswick an idea of where they could locate, where they could look for real estate,” Collins said, “and then wait until we have a full licensing program in place before they can actually get their licenses and move forward with the state and town licensing.”

Without the moratorium, Collins said, should the town adopt any zoning change that allow these uses, retail marijuana facility proposals could go forward even if the town isn’t ready to license them.

Medical marijuana storefronts are not included in the bill approved last week. But, Collins told councilors, there is currently a medical marijuana bill in limbo that would allow caregivers to have an unlimited number of patients, instead of five.

That bill would formalize what caregivers are allowed with the medical marijuana storefronts and a rolling list of patients. If that bill is eventually enacted, there will be a formal allowance of medical marijuana storefronts.

“Right now, we’re still in the phase of tacit allowance of them,” Collins said, “so there’s every reason right now to still have a moratorium on those storefronts.”

In response to a question from Councilor Steve Walker, Collins noted that the state’s license requirements will be completed in the fall at the earliest. She doesn’t expect the town will need to extend the moratorium again, should it be able to develop its own regulations within 180 days.

Town Manager John Eldridge told the council the town is still waiting for the state to finish its regulations. The recommendations made by the Brunswick’s Marijuana Policy Working Group have been passed onto the planning board for review.

The planning board did not recommend allowing social clubs, and reached no consensus on marijuana retail stores. Some members recommended they be allowed in industrial zones — as long as signs and facilities are not visible from Bath Road or Route 1 — while others didn’t support retail sales at all.

The task force supported allowing cultivation, manufacturing and testing facilities for retail marijuana in town as long as they are not visible from a thoroughfare, and only within industrial zones.

“I’m hoping that this is literally correct about the final moratorium,” said Councilor Suzan Wilson. “We’ve done this a couple of times already and haven’t seen much, so hopefully this really is the end and something will come back to us to handle as a council because it’s obviously out there at the state level and everywhere else.”

dmoore@timesrecord.com