Cannabis Cured in Bangor has one entrance if youâre a patient in Maineâs medical marijuana program, and another if youâre simply a recreational customer.
Youâll find essentially the same products whether youâre on the storeâs medical or recreational side. But youâll find different employees and different prices on each side. The two sides are separated by a wall that was required to completely divide the businesses.
âThere isnât really a huge difference between our products,â said Brooke McLaughlin, Cannabis Curedâs Bangor regional manager.
But thereâs a significant difference in the rules that apply on either side of the wall.
On the recreational side, employees have to be fingerprinted and pass background checks under state regulations, and a certain number of employees must be in the store at any given time, McLaughlin said. All of the recreational products have to be tracked in a state data system and tested for contaminants to ensure that customers are buying untainted marijuana.
Caption: Left to right, An employee helps a patient cash out at Cannabis Curedâs medicinal storefront in Bangor, April 22, 2022. The inside of Cannabis Curedâs recreational marijuana storefront, April 22, 2022. Credit: Sawyer Loftus | BDN
On the medical side, none of those requirements apply.
The store reflects a reality of Maineâs legal marijuana program. While the medical and recreational marijuana markets offer up products from the same plant, the medical market is subject to significantly less regulation and scrutiny than its newer recreational counterpart. Thereâs no required testing of medical products.
The lack of regulation on the medical side makes it more vulnerable to criminal activity, said Erik Gundersen, director of Maineâs Office of Marijuana Policy.
The disparity in regulation came to light last year after a licensed Maine medical marijuana caregiver, Lucas Sirois, was accused of illegally selling $13 million in marijuana that was ostensibly part of the stateâs medical program to non-medical patients across state lines and in Maine. More than a dozen people were charged as part of Siroisâ operation, including current and former law enforcement officers, a former selectman and a former prosecutor.
âThereâs just a severe void of any transparency or accountability within the medical program, and to assume that thereâs not a lot of illicit activity happening is just kind of misguided,â Gundersen said. âBut weâve continued to advocate for regulations that make sense for all stakeholder groups.â
The marijuana policy office, which was created in 2019, the year before the state started allowing recreational marijuana retailers to open, has sought to add more regulation to Maineâs much older medical marijuana program. But those changes have proven difficult to make, Gundersen said.
Advocates for the medical marijuana program have resisted more stringent regulation, and theyâve often found allies in the state Legislature. Lawmakers last year rejected regulations from the Office of Marijuana Policy that would have implemented a âseed-to-saleâ tracking system for medical marijuana thatâs in place for recreational pot.
âIt certainly behooves us as the agency to continue to ring that bell and call attention to it, saying, âHey, there are some deficiencies within this program that we think we can improve upon,ââ Gundersen said.
Gundersen said there is undoubtedly more criminal activity happening, and more stringent regulations could help. Additionally, more regulation could help ensure the safety and quality of medical marijuana products, he said.
Advocates for medical marijuana program participants in Maine, however, fear that more regulation would increase costs, making medical products less accessible, said Paul McCarrier, a member of the Maine Craft Cannabis Association, an industry group, and a member of the Medical Marijuana Workgroup that works with the Office of Marijuana Policy on regulations.Â
âWhen we donât have any data that is saying that there needs to be this heavier level of regulation, that not only is going to increase costs for the businesses, it is going to increase costs for the patients,â McCarrier said.
Cases like Siroisâ are rare and often detract from the medical marijuana programâs successes, he said. Â
âThat, obviously, is what is going to get a lot of attention,â McCarrier said. âWhatâs being ignored, is the fact that we have a program thatâs been operating for 12 years with really minimal problems.â
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