WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The planned official launch of Maine's recreational marijuana market in spring was postponed by state regulators on Friday due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Maine Office of Marijuana Policy or OMP said it has decided to postpone the 'spring debut' of the adult-use marijuana retail sales in Maine until further notice.
The decision marks the first implementation delay in the state for adult use marijuana since Governor Janet Mills' Administration created OMP within the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services in 2019. In June 2019, Governor Mills signed a law that provides a legal framework for the sale of recreational marijuana to adults in the state.
The OMP is responsible for the oversight of all aspects of legalized marijuana in Maine, including the state's existing Medical Use of Marijuana Program.
Maine voters approved recreational marijuana in 2016, but sales have been delayed. The state already has legal medical marijuana.
In a letter on Friday to conditional and prospective adult use licensees in Maine, OMP Director Erik Gundersen said, 'Just one month ago, as we announced the issuance of Maine's first conditional licenses for adult use marijuana establishments, few would have envisioned the effects the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) would have on the daily lives of Mainers. However, it now appears as though a spring launch of Maine's adult use industry is simply unrealistic.'
The OMP first noted the possibility of a delay in the rollout of the adult-use marijuana market in a March memorandum to program participants on Governor Mills' coronavirus civil emergency declaration.
In his letter, Gundersen reinforced the OMP's commitment to protecting public health and safety as Maine towns and cities confronted the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gundersen noted that public health experts have said they cannot answer what social distancing or other guidance may be in effect as Maine approaches late spring and early summer.
He added that OMP will not publicly identify a new adult use launch window until public health experts deem such an action appropriate.
The OMP has implemented a remote work plan for most of its staff and closed its Augusta office to the public.
However, the agency is continuing to accept recreational and medical use marijuana applications, issuing medical marijuana registrations and adult use conditional licenses as well as developing new rules and regulations required by recent changes in state law.
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