Hancock County Might Join into the Marijuana Industry

Hancock County is a dry county when it comes to marijuana. There are no adult use retailers in the entire county, but that could be changing soon. A committee in Southwest Harbor plans to leave the decision up to the residents.

The committee is meeting in February to discuss some of the potential regulations for land use and operations, the Mount Desert Islander reported. The committee is comprised of 10 people. Meetings will occur weekly to determine if Southwest Harbor should move forward with being the first town in Hancock County to allow adult use marijuana facilities.

The exact and final language does not have to be in place by a referendum deadline of March 6. It’s a short period of time but the committee says they can get it ready enough.

Town Manager Justin VanDongen said, “The ability to do it is there. But first we need to figure out what we’re trying to do.”

Board of Selectmen representative Kristin Hutchins said, “We’ve decided we want to give the voters the option to vote to adopt an ordinance. We could do something as simple as adopting the state’s regulations.”

Recent polls seem to indicate that residents may not be on board with adult use marijuana businesses coming to town.