The number of licensed medical marijuana growers jumped by 42 percent last year and existing caregivers took on thousands of additional patients, continuing the expansion of a cottage cannabis industry that has flourished in Maine over the past five years.
The continued growth of the medical program comes as state lawmakers set up a regulatory system to oversee a new adult-use cannabis retail market expected to open early next year. Industry insiders say the growth of the medical program in 2016 – which included nearly 1,000 new caregivers – is due in part to the passage of a recreational marijuana law, but also shows Mainers are increasingly turning to cannabis to treat chronic pain and other illnesses.
STATE BY STATE: Maine Cannabis News
“It shows cannabis is a blooming small business in this state,” said Paul McCarrier, a longtime medical marijuana caregiver and an author of the recreational marijuana law. “I think a lot of people realize this can be a great opportunity to help people and provide care to them through cannabis. I think there are also people who want to get into the adult-use industry and the only way for them to get legal experience is through the medical marijuana program.”
