The Houlton Rotary Club met for its luncheon meeting on Monday, June 5. Andrew Ellis, now from Hawaii, was the guest of his father Rotarian Bob Ellis and Annette Beaton of Katahdin Trust Company was the guest of Rotarian Matthew Nightingale. Beaton was present for her first reading towards becoming a member of the club. Rotarian Dennis Ashley was present just having completed the school year teaching at the Greater Houlton Christian Academy.
Rotarian Butch Asselin hosted his guest speaker George McCluskey, who is the chairman of the town council. He was born in Houlton and raised in Monticello. McCluskey now lives in Houlton with his wife and three daughters. He owns Hy-Grow Organics in Houlton.
McCluskey has been a grower of medical marijuana for awhile. Since November 2016 recreational marijuana was made legal to use at home and to grow six plants privately for anyone over the age of twenty-one. The legislature in Augusta is working on the rules to govern the activity of selling recreational marijuana, growing for recreational use and for opening social clubs. The issue is complicated and McCluskey doubts that the perfect legislation will be ready for the projected date of Feb. 1, 2018.
To be able to use medical marijuana a person must have an ailment on the medical usage list. McCluskey spoke about Moratoriums that towns are enacting for recreational marijuana activity. That does not discount the rules for home use and growing for anyone at least 21 years of age. A name change is being considered from recreational to “adult use” marijuana, he said.
Three areas of the industry are retail shops, commercial growing and manufacturing items such as cookies, cakes and extracts. Social clubs are unique to Maine as no other state has approved this. The problem facing law enforcement is how to measure “intoxication” when a user leaves a social club. There is no set benchmark at this time and this has caused much controversy.
McCluskey said he felt that the town council’s approach to the industry is receiving applause statewide. The laws are set to keep the products away from children and regulations are being stepped up. Money is to be made and the airport facility serves a purpose and generates jealousy from other towns according to McCluskey. He feels Houlton is showing forward thinking by not taking the “keep it out of my town” approach.
Concerning a town wide vote in Houlton, McCluskey said that only the ordinance could be voted on for any changes by a citizen initiative. The ordinance is currently being developed to control the commercial growing of marijuana in the town of Houlton. One section of the ordinance will deal with implementing exhaust fans with filters to control the smell that many feel is offensive, particularly in a neighborhood situation.
