Medical pot research site proposed for Old Orchard Beach
A proposal to develop a research facility in Old Orchard Beach for medical marijuana has prompted town officials to consider a 60-day moratorium on such activity.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the Old Orchard Beach Town Council will consider passing the moratorium tonight in order to allow extra time for officials to develop rules regarding nonresidential facilities that cultivate medical marijuana.
The research facility, which will also allow four caregivers to grow plants there for patients, is being proposed by Pierre Bouthiller, a local builder and firefighter. He told the newspaper he is planning to lease a former post office building and provide more security than what is typically used by residential caregivers and patients growing medical marijuana.
The Press Herald noted that the facility may be the first of its kind, though a spokesman with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the agency would have to vet details of the proposal before determining its legality.
Medicinal use of marijuana for specific illnesses has been legal in Maine since 1999, with a distribution mechanism enacted 10 years later, though it is still considered illegal on a federal level.
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