Members of the Windham Town Council voted unanimously to allow Jar Cannabis Co. to convert an existing licensed medical marijuana caregiver retail store at 9 Storm Drive in North Windham to a single marijuana registered dispensary license with two locations, at 9 Storm Drive, Jar’s retail location, and 608 Roosevelt Trail, Jar’s cultivation location, at a meeting on July 11.
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| The Windham Town Council has approved a request from Jar Cannabis Co. to convert an existing medical caregiver store to a single registered dispensary license. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
To clarify the legality of conversion to a single marijuana registered dispensary, officials at the state Office of Cannabis Policy at the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services were consulted. The question asked was if authorized activities could be included on a dispensary registration certificate or would two separate registration certificates be required by the state.
In June, Gabrielle Berube Pierce, the Policy Director at the state Office of Cannabis Policy, stipulated in an email to Jar. Cannabis Co. attorneys that one dispensary license can have up to two locations, but no duplicated activities and that Jar Cannabis Co. could submit an application for conversion to the town for one license with two locations.
Joel Pepin, who owns Jar Cannabis Co., was granted one of the town two adult retail marijuana licenses for the property at 9 Storm Drive in October 2020 by councilors. In September 2020, Paul’s Boutique and Windham RSL had been awarded a conditional adult-use marijuana licenses, but during a public hearing several weeks later, the original license award to Windham RSL was negated because of an application discrepancy regarding a lease and the next highest finisher in the council’s adult-use marijuana retail license scoring system, Jar Cannabis Co., was awarded the license instead.
The Town of Windham established an education fund in 2021 to provide small grants for volunteer and educational organizations to complete projects within the town that focus on public health and/or safety educational programs promoting collaboration and positive choices in reducing youth substance abuse.
There are currently seven marijuana storefronts in Windham and some of those were grandfathered in when the town adopted a marijuana ordinance in 2020 addressing the regulation and licensing of cannabis businesses. Councilors have said that when some of the businesses which were grandfathered for licenses go out of business, they will not be replaced.
Earlier this year, Dave Whitten, the owner of sticky Bud Farms in Windham, a medical marijuana business, created a petition to put a referendum on the ballot before Windham voters to determine if the town should allow current medical marijuana businesses to upgrade to adult retail marijuana establishments.
Whitten said that since the town first awarded two adult retail marijuana licenses under its marijuana ordinance in September 2020, it has given those businesses an unfair business advantage. A revised town ordinance addressing the sale of Recreational Adult-Use and Medical Marijuana Storefront facilities, along with business and personal marijuana outdoor cultivation was approved and adopted by Windham town councilors in late May 2020.
Businesses already operating in Windham under medical marijuana licenses submitted applications for an adult retail marijuana license with the town and those applications were scored by town councilors based upon submitted operational plans, security measures, safety, experience, product handling, any violations on record and other specific criteria.
Whitten has expanded the business to include a cannabis dispensary, a glass products store, a grow facility, and has created a cannabis bakery with the intent of upgrading his business to an adult retail establishment. But the town council has remained steadfast in its commitment to limiting adult retail business licenses to two, with Jar Cannabis Co. still retaining one of the adult retail licenses for Windham.
Licensing fees for marijuana businesses are collected annually by the town. <
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