Maine to Make Rules for Recreational Marijuana Industry by June 19

As the public comment period closed regarding recreational marijuana regulations in Maine, the draft rules are ready to be discussed. The Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services plans to submit their draft rules to the Legislature this week. The first regular legislative session ends on June 19, so lawmakers are hoping to adopt concrete rules by then.

The governor has to sign the rules into law by the end of the session so that they can take effect 90 days following the end of the session, according to Bangor Daily News. The Office of Marijuana Policy has been working on these regulations since February. Due to a bill being rewritten twice and vetoed twice, it’s taken more time for the state to start recreational marijuana sales going than they’d hoped.

The public’s comments will be taken into consideration as the provisional rules are adopted. The accepted rules have to be approved by the Legislative Council, Office of Policy and Legal Analysis, Revisor of Statutes, the Office of Marijuana Policy and then the rules become a bill.

When the provisional rules are a bill, the state Legislature can assign a committee to review them. It’s speculated that the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee will have that task. Another public hearing will be held with a work session to follow. The rules can be accepted or rejected or can be accepted with amendments.

Since the state is in a big hurry to get the rules in place, it’s thought that the process will go rather quickly so that interested parties can obtain marijuana business licenses and get busy on construction and cultivation.