While Maine marijuana regulation has faced delays, the Pine Tree State finally has a regulatory draft to show for itself.

On Sept. 11, 2017, the Maine Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation released the draft version of LR 2395, a bill aimed at regulating Maine’s fledgling recreational marijuana industry and harmonizing it with the state’s preexisting medical marijuana industry.

Under the measure, medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers would be able to seek a recreational marijuana license. However, dual-license holders would be required to have two different points of sale for both recreational and medicinal marijuana, as well as two different entrances to those points of sale.

Recreational marijuana would be taxed at 20%, while medical marijuana would be taxed 5.5%. Also included in the measure are provisions limiting personal cultivation to just 12 plants per person, as well as requirements for a strict seed-to-sale tracking system.

Although the measure attempts to address many of the issues raised by the MLI committee, committee co-chair Sen. Roger Katz told the Portland Press Herald that there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“We’ve worked on it for months, but it’s a rough draft. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions that we have to work out. Some of those questions, we’re looking to the public for answers. We want to hear what they have to say. I’m sure it will be a vibrant discussion,” Katz said.

A public hearing on the Maine marijuana regulation bill has been set for Sept. 26, followed by two work sessions scheduled to take place on Sept. 27 and 28.