CARIBOU, Maine — Members of the public will be able to speak on retail marijuana in Caribou during an Monday, April 10 public hearing at 6 p.m. in city council chambers.
Council decided on the date and time during a March 27 meeting, and while a temporary moratorium is currently in place, the newly introduced ordinance would involve a ban of any retail marijuana or the establishment of any marijuana social clubs.
Police Chief Michael Gahagan, who also serves as interim city manager, wrote in a memo that the Planning Board “decided it would recommend an ordinance banning retail marijuana from Caribou.” In the memo, Gahagan added that the city would not likely see any revenue via retail pot.
“One topic that has been discussed is that Caribou would be losing out on tax revenue if we do not allow it,” Gahagan wrote. “However, at this time there is no way for municipalities to levy a local option sales tax on it. All sales tax revenue would go to the state, for the state to distribute as they see fit. It’s unlikely that any of that would come back to the local level.”
Like ordinances being introduced in many other municipalities, this strictly involves banning social clubs and retail establishments within Caribou. Both personal and medical use of marijuana are still legal within the city and state.
Penalties for anyone going against the ordinance are steep, with a maximum penalty of $2,500 for the first violation and up to $25,000 when “it is shown that there has been a previous conviction of the same person within the past five years for a violation of the ordinance.”
The proposed ordinance defines a retail marijuana establishment as a “retail marijuana store, a retail marijuana cultivation facility, a retail marijuana products manufacturing facility, or a retail marijuana testing facility.” A retail marijuana social club is similar to a bar that serves pot instead of alcohol, defined by the ordinance as “an entity licensed to sell retail marijuana and retail marijuana products to consumers for consumption on the licensed premises.”
