Tell us more, say Maine cannabis regulators
Although state officials issued the first licenses for retail cannabis sales nearly two years ago, Maine officials say there’s still plenty to learn about the budding industry. And they hope to through a series of planned community conversations this summer and fall.
The state Office of Cannabis Policy kicks off a "listening tour" Wednesday with an evening event at the University of New England center in Biddeford. Five communities will host events each month through mid-October, when the series will conclude with an Oct. 12 conversation at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. A full list of event locations and pre-registration links can be found here.
The geographic diversity of the locations selected represents the agency’s desire to “hear from a wide variety of people with differing opinions and questions, so that we can serve as the best possible go-to on all things cannabis in Maine,” said Erik Gundersen, the agency’s director.
Since the state office was formed three years ago, regulators have “been really so focused on implementing the adult-use recreational cannabis program pretty successfully … so we are now turning our focus to the ongoing, everyday conversations around the cannabis program” said Matt Grondin, the agency’s spokesperson, in an interview with Mainebiz.
The OCP says the series represents its first, significant public engagement process. But what do state regulators still want to know? How to expand retail, cultivation and other manufacturing processes are top-of-mind concerns for the agency, Grondin said. Getting more people participating in the legal market is another.
Grondin pointed to a recent report highlighting how the legal, adult-use recreational cannabis market was responsible for 64% of use in the state between November and December last year. “That’s a pretty remarkable number; other states have not achieved that [level of legalized market participation] even after multiple years, let alone one year,” said Grondin.
Still, Maine’s legal cannabis market hasn’t completely eliminated unregulated operators from selling pot. That’s one area of uncertainty that officials hope to learn more about to root out illicit operators.
“Thirty-six percent coming from an illicit market still shows that we have work to do,” said Grondin, adding that the agency wants “to have a target of getting that on toward 80% and 90% [legal market participation] in the coming years."
"But we’ve got some room to be very proud of the launch after one year in getting those illicit market numbers down to a pretty impressive place.”
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