CARIBOU, Maine — A Caribou medical cannabis business can continue operating while city leaders wrangle over new state wording that classifies caregiver offices as retail stores.
The Caribou City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday night to allow Derrell Richardson, who owns Richardson’s Remedies, to remain open until legal questions are sorted.
At issue is an August 2024 ruling from Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy that now requires municipalities to approve medical cannabis dispensaries as caregiver retail stores. But Caribou has never approved retail cannabis. The new wording could force Richardson to close unless the city changes its policy.
Richardson opened Richardson’s Remedies in Caribou around 2013, and also has locations in Presque Isle and Madawaska. All he wants is to continue to serve people, he said.
“I figured back then I was approved, because the city knew I was here,” he said. “What can I do so I can stay here? I’m just trying to do business as usual.”
Under Maine’s Medical Use of Cannabis Act, definitions changed last year from “caregiver office space” to “caregiver retail store.” The topic first arose during the public comment period at last month’s council meeting, with several residents expressing support for Richardson and urging the city to allow his store to continue.
The ruling has sparked confusion and litigation across the state, said Jennifer Belcher of consulting firm Belcher, Kraus and Associates and the Maine Cannabis Union.
Some people are even using the new wording to try to shut down some cannabis businesses, she said.
She offered a sample cannabis ordinance and explained a local authorization form the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy developed after the August wording change.
The form contains this question: Was the caregiver retail store operating with municipal approval in the municipality prior to December 13, 2018? Municipalities can check a “yes” or “no” box; if the “yes” box is checked, the business is allowed to continue operating as is.
“You have to do either wholesale, or your office space out of your home is a caregiver retail storefront by definition,” she said. “The people that [had] offices working out of their home, even like myself, in order to renew the license and continue doing it as we’ve done business for the past 15 years, we have to get this form signed.”
Richardson’s has been operating since 2013, so falls under a grandfather clause and should be allowed to stay in business, Belcher said. She urged the city to check the box and submit the form.
But that wouldn’t be lawful, because Richardson never operated with municipal approval, City Manager Penny Thompson said. Caregivers have always been licensed and regulated by the state, not by municipalities. And Caribou has never approved retail cannabis stores.
Licensing definitions and decisions are made in Augusta, she said. Caribou would have to change zoning or create an ordinance, which takes time to craft and approve.
Councilor Joan Theriault said she doesn’t believe Caribou residents would want such an ordinance.
“We do not and never have had retail sales of cannabis, marijuana, whatever,” she said. “I don’t believe it’s what the citizens want. But if we were to do that, I think at least we should put it out to referendum to see what the citizens want.”
Richardson’s business has never caused any trouble and the city should do something to keep it open, Councilor Jennifer Kelley said. She moved that Thompson check the box on the form.
Councilors did not vote on the motion. Councilors Dan Bagley and Paul Watson said they believed checking the box would be illegal.
The group issued a second motion to allow Richardson to be able to operate until the legal issues are resolved. The motion passed with a 4-2 vote, with councilors Bagley and Theriault voting no.
The rules are indeed complicated, Thompson said on Wednesday. The bottom line is that the state regulates caregivers and their activities. Municipalities don’t.
State laws also limit what the city can prohibit regarding cannabis, she said. A town cannot prohibit a caregiver from operating in a way that follows state laws.
“The city is not prohibiting Mr. Richardson from doing anything,” Thompson said. “If the state of Maine Office of Cannabis Policy does an inspection and they believe he is operating a caregiver retail store, they would tell him that he would need municipal approval for that caregiver retail store.”
