CARIBOU, Maine — While many neighboring communities have finalized or looked at creating their own retail marijuana regulations, the city of Caribou isn’t.
Any retail marijuana stores geared toward the general public, including those that only sell medical marijuana, cannot be developed within city limits.
Code Enforcement Officer Ken Murchison reviewed the city’s marijuana ordinance, which only allows nonprofit dispensaries and cultivation facilities registered for medical marijuana, when the Caribou Planning Board met recently.
Caribou’s decision to not invest in retail marijuana businesses is in stark contrast with neighboring communities. Presque Isle first approved the sale and manufacture of recreational pot in 2020 and has since seen four medical shops, two recreational stores and one cultivation facility open. That city’s ordinance specifies that shops cannot be within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing public or private school and must adhere to strict zoning rules.
The topic has come up among Caribou officials because of a permit application submitted in December for a proposed medical marijuana dispensary caregiver center that would be located in the former Pizza Hut building at 149 Bennett Drive.
In January, Murchison told the planning board he was concerned about the application because the entrepreneur’s business description seemed similar to a retail store.
After researching Maine’s retail marijuana laws, Murchison…
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CARIBOU, Maine — While many neighboring communities have finalized or looked at creating their own retail marijuana regulations, the city of Caribou isn’t.
Any retail marijuana stores geared toward the general public, including those that only sell medical marijuana, cannot be developed within city limits.
Code Enforcement Officer Ken Murchison reviewed the city’s marijuana ordinance, which only allows nonprofit dispensaries and cultivation facilities registered for medical marijuana, when the Caribou Planning Board met recently.
Caribou’s decision to not invest in retail marijuana businesses is in stark contrast with neighboring communities. Presque Isle first approved the sale and manufacture of recreational pot in 2020 and has since seen four medical shops, two recreational stores and one cultivation facility open. That city’s ordinance specifies that shops cannot be within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing public or private school and must adhere to strict zoning rules.
The topic has come up among Caribou officials because of a permit application submitted in December for a proposed medical marijuana dispensary caregiver center that would be located in the former Pizza Hut building at 149 Bennett Drive.
In January, Murchison told the planning board he was concerned about the application because the entrepreneur’s business description seemed similar to a retail store.
After researching Maine’s retail marijuana laws, Murchison…
