Marijuana laws have been Maine legislation for decades.

In 1976, Maine decriminalized possession. The state’s first medical marijuana law passed in 1999, and was further amended in 2012. Most recently, a 2016 law legalized recreational use.

Currently, there are no retail sales of marijuana permitted in Scarborough, but as state laws on marijuana change, so does the need for Scarborough Town Ordinances to regulate new marijuana establishments to include cultivation, manufacturing and testing.

In January 2020, the Town Council adopted the 1018-Marijuana-Establishment-License Ordinance with much research, legal consultation and public input. The purpose of this ordinance is to regulate and license Marijuana Establishments as defined by the State of Maine under the Marijuana Legalization Act, 28-B M.R.S.A. Chapter 1, and the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act, 22 M.R.S.A. Chapter 558-C in order to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of Scarborough.

There are some regulations that establishments must follow. First, no local license shall be granted by the Town Council until the police chief, the fire chief, and the code enforcement officer have all made the determination that the applicant complies with this and all other local ordinance and state laws and provides a written recommendation to the town clerk. The ordinance sets standards for a local license that must be compliant or face fines. The ordinance permits cultivation in the Pine Point Industrial Overlay District, Industrial Districts, and Light Industrial Districts defined by Scarborough zoning.

In addition to any other remedies provided by the ordinance, the town may take all necessary steps to immediately shut down any marijuana business for the following violations: operating a marijuana business without a local license or state license; failure to allow entrance and inspection to any town official on official business after a reasonable request; and any other violation that the town determines as a potential threat to the health and/or safety of the public, including significant fire and life safety violations.

The Town Council has recently approved up to 34 licenses for marijuana businesses established in the Town of Scarborough. Some of these businesses have been growing medical marijuana in Scarborough since the state of Maine legalized medical cannabis. Currently, there are 25 cultivation businesses in Scarborough, 14 in Pine Point and nine in other industrial locations. To best enforce town regulations the license must first be issued.

As cultivation facilities become more present in Scarborough, the town has been receiving increased complaints from abutters about the odor produced in the growing process. The town has secured an odor expert to assist with assessing each of the cultivation facilities and suggest odor mitigation measures to be implemented by the licensee. There is also an online form to register an odor complaint on the town website/departments/planning-and-codes/codes. All complaints will be investigated!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.