The Portland City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a medical marijuana festival in Deering Oaks on Aug. 9.
The council also approved a block party in the Old Port that day that will close lower Exchange Street. The event, from noon to 5 p.m., will raise money for the G. Good Portland Foundation, which gives small grants for community improvement projects. Peaks Organic Brewing Co. will provide beer for a beer garden in front of the B. Good restaurant.
The New England Cannabis Farmers Market Festival will run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Deering Oaks and feature live music. While the event will connect medical marijuana caregivers to registered patients, no cannabis or alcohol will be sold or consumed during the event, according to a memo to the council.
The event, sponsored by New World Organics, was endorsed by the Friends of Deering Oaks Park. Organizers expect 2,000 people to attend the free event.
“This summer an event that has been long overdue is going to satisfy the needs of Medical (Marijuana) Patients and Caregivers alike,” says the group’s website. “No longer do innocent responsible adults need to feel ashamed and paranoid for making the responsible (decision) to use share and grow cannabis.”
The event drew a hearty chuckle from those at Monday’s meeting, but it was not addressed by councilors, who gave their consent with little discussion.
Resident Steven Scharf said “it blows my mind” that the city would permit a marijuana festival in a city park, and scoffed at the notion that marijuana will not be used at the event.
“I suspect we will be able to smell it across the street – across Park Avenue,” Scharf said.
Councilor Jill Duson said that while Portland voters decided in 2013 to legalize marijuana in the city, the vote was largely symbolic and police have continued to enforce state laws.
“I would just say to attendees, proceed at your own risk,” Duson said.
The event will be the second pro-marijuana rally in Deering Oaks in recent years, but the first since residents passed the city ordinance in 2013, making Portland the first East Coast city to legalize marijuana.
In 2012, city park hosted the Atlantic CannaFEST, which drew about 200 people and was meant to promote medical marijuana and protest the prices being charged at state-sanctioned dispensaries. During that four-hour event, marijuana was given away to low-income patients. Police reported no problems with that event.
Maine voters first legalized marijuana for medical use in 1999, and significantly expanded the law a decade later by adding a system of drug dispensaries and medical marijuana caregivers.
Maine now has a two-tiered system for supplying marijuana. There are eight state-sanctioned dispensaries that can grow for an unlimited number of patients, and an estimated 1,700 caregivers who can each grow for five patients at a time. They supply an estimated 70 percent of Maine’s medical marijuana.
There is also a push to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Although Maine lawmakers voted against bills to legalize marijuana in committee, two groups are collecting signatures for a statewide referendum seeking to make Maine the fifth state to legalize marijuana.
According to the council memo, the festival will be a one-day event showcasing “Maine’s (marijuana) caregivers and innovators in the community.” It will be part educational and part business expo, with caregivers offering their services and products to registered patients.
According to the group’s application, caregivers will pay $250 each and be organized by the counties they serve. Organizers plan to offer grilled foods, T-shirts, novelty items and artwork, according to their application.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
