DURHAM

Durham voters Nov. 7 will decide whether to enact a retail marijuana moratorium for six months.

Town Administrator Ruth Glaeser said Tuesday the moratorium would cover all retail operations included in the citizens’ initiative voted into law the last election, including manufacturing and cultivation facilities, as well as social clubs. Glaeser said she does believe some type or types of use will eventually be supported in town.

The moratorium is to allow the town’s planning board additional time to decide what sort of ordinance to draft, as well as allow the state to finalize its legal framework surrounding the issue. Absentee ballots are now available at the town office.

The citizens’ initiative makes it legal for adults 21 and older to buy up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana, and tend six mature plants for personal use. That portion of the law became effective in January 2017. The second part of the referendum allows social clubs where marijuana would be consumed and the sale of edible pot, but a municipality can ban both.

On Monday, the House and Senate endorsed a revised marijuana bill proposed by a bipartisan legislative panel. Members of the panel spent months rewriting the law to allow local communities to opt-in to recreational marijuana sales, which would likely start in 2019. The bill also makes other changes, like adding an excise tax to the existing 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, according to the Associated Press.

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Glaeser said the opt-in provision gives municipalities more breathing room to decide what should be allowed in town.

Adult possession of recreational marijuana became legal in Maine this year, while sales are delayed until at least February, an AP report said.

The bill now awaits approval, or a veto, from the governor.

jlaaka@timesrecord.com



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