Mission Statement
A group of like-minded cultivators with the primary purpose of educating & advocating for continued successful participation in Maine’s medical and recreational markets. Secondly, we will support each other to ensure our collective success in maintaining Maine’s high standards in cannabis cultivation & end product. The group will use all of our pooled resources in helping grow our businesses while increasing collective profitability. The more market share we possess as small cultivators, the less larger interests can control.
Money will be raised for funding partnerships with lobbying associations to both endorse their agendas, if in our association’s best interest, and pursue the agenda of the Growers Alliance. The Alliance will have majority rule in all decisions. There is no Craft Cannabis Market without us. Further, this economic crisis demonstrates the important of supporting small Maine businesses rather than limiting them and adding costs to their operations, costing the state jobs and economic growth.
April 1st 2020 – Agenda for the remainder of the current legislature calendar.
We’ll be working directly with the Maine Craft Cannabis Association in fundraising and lobbying for the remainder of the current legislative calendar. The immediate goal is to limit any negative changes the department wants to make to the Medical and Adult Use programs while adding the following improvements:
Medical
- 100 % wholesale option
- Attempt to eliminate plant count and sq. footage (might be cause for next session)
- Explicit language protecting Medical delivery
Adult Use
Due to a less than desirable program, the department fears the medical program improvements will hurt Adult Use. As cultivators with business plans in both, we need to secure both programs. May need to go over the heads of the committee and Department to accomplish this, hence fundraising and additional counsel at Bernstein Shur. We feel, along with the Craft Cannabis Association, the following improvements should be made:
- Co-location of Medical and Adult Use retail sales
- Allowing for in-store ID check for all Adult Use facilities (only permitted outside premises)
- Ensuring passage of LD 2091 in special legislative session to:
- Redefine ‘mother plant’ and ‘seedling’ to less restrictive
- Allow for unlimited transfers of plants AND flower and trim between any caregiver and any adult use cultivation licensee
- Replacement of the excise tax with a flat sales tax of 20% (2021 session)