BIDDEFORD — The city council is expected to vote tonight on imposing a six-month moratorium on new medical marijuana growing facilities and dispensaries.

Under Maine law, only eight medical marijuana dispensaries, each in a designated zone, can operate in the state. One of these eight, Canuvo, is located at 4 Wellspring Road in Biddeford.

Medical marijuana caregivers are licensed by the state to grow medical marijuana. Typically, they grow their crops at their residences.

By law, caregivers can grow up to 30 plants – six plants each for up to five patients. Since dispensaries were permitted in Maine a few years ago, a small number have opted to raise their plants in a shared facility for cultivation.

City Administrator Jim Bennett said after the passage of a 2009 citizen’s initiative that allowed medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, most communities focused on the dispensary aspect of medical marijuana and not on the caregiver aspect.

Bennett said the proposed moratorium is a chance for the city to give a “quick time-out” to take a look at the impacts of medical marijuana facilities and if the city needs to make any changes to regulate them. He said he knows of at least one instance where there have been complaints about the smell from a caregiver in a multi-unit building.

Biddeford is one of a handful of Maine municipalities that are considering or have implemented an ordinance to regulate locations of dispensaries and grow facilities.

In Old Orchard Beach, a proposal by a local business- man to operate a medical marijuana research and growing facility prompted the town to adopt a zoning ordinance last year specifying where such facilities can be located.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.