A Portland City Councilor hopes to derail a proposed six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
David Marshall plans to introduce a council order at Monday’s meeting to allow state-licensed dispensaries in the downtown business zones. He is scheduled to formally announce the proposal at a news conference at City hall this morning.
The council’s already scheduled to hold a public hearing Monday on a six-month ban that would allow planning officials to create siting and operating rules. The proposal is facing strong opposition because it could delay the opening of the state’s largest dispensary.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is expected to grant the state’s first-ever licenses to eight medical marijuana dispensaries on July 9. The dispensaries would be spread out in eight regions around the state, and the Cumberland County site is widely expected to be somewhere in Portland because of the population size and public transportation network.
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