Maine cannabis stores are gearing up for the crowds

Thomas Winstanley recalls the long lines at marijuana shops opening in Massachusetts just before Thanksgiving 2018. He would have expected the same when his company's South Portland store opened on Friday, but the coronavirus is adding a twist this year Theory Wellness opens on its first day of sales as one of only eight adult retail stores licensed to operate in Maine. The company has a wealth of experience. It is based in Massachusetts, where it has two stores and is about to get its third medical marijuana business approved. "I think one of the lessons we're taking from opening recreational facilities in Massachusetts is that you never really know what to expect," said Winstanley, director of marketing for Theory Wellness. Shopkeepers expect interest pent up when Maine stores open nearly four years after voter legalization of recreational marijuana. The market could start slowly in anticipation of product shortages when companies get the license and begin expanding. In the course of the market opening, eight cultivation plants, four manufacturing plants and a test laboratory were licensed by the state for recreational activities. Theory Wellness encourages customers to pre-book online and schedule appointments for their purchases to be picked up, a policy many Massachusetts stores have put in place to reduce waiting times. Customers can still go inside. Winstanley said pre-orders have been very popular in Massachusetts, where unlike Maine, recreational and medical stores can operate under the same roof. People looking to experience the first day of sales in Maine will have to be patient as they will be asked to maintain a social distance of six feet and be given a card proving they will be 21 when they walk in and out of the store stand at the cash register, he said. Theory Wellness will only accept cash or PIN-based debit cards that have a $ 2.75 ATM transaction fee. The Maine tax on cannabis sales is 10 percent. Payment methods will vary across state. The pandemic has delayed the opening of the Maine market. In September, when the first active licenses were issued, Erik Gundersen, director of the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy, said he expected the market to develop in the coming weeks and months, although initially it was both in accessibility to consumers and product availability will be limited. John Lorenz owns Sweet Relief on Route 1 in Northport, one of the first adult marijuana retail stores in the state to be approved. Credit: Abigail Curtis | BDN John Lorenz, owner of Sweet Relief in Northport, said he expected queues of people to camp outside the stores overnight on Thursday, much like customers line up outside Apple stores the night before a new iPhone is released. He is not worried about the product shortages that some other states have experienced when opening up leisure markets. "It will take time, as will next summer's season and harvest, to bring the program to its full potential," he said. Other players in the industry, such as licensed chocolatiers, bakers, and extractors, also need to increase the production of edibles, which are expected to be very scarce for recreational stores initially. Lorenz said he is making an effort to get products for sale and expects many stores in Maine to be selling mostly buds in October. Customers who are 21 years of age or older are permitted to purchase and own up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, marijuana concentrate, and marijuana products, including no more than 5 grams of marijuana concentrate, according to the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy. However, some stores may set their own limits that are lower, said bureau of marijuana policy spokesman David Heidrich. Another adult store in South Portland, Seaweed, has related businesses with licenses to grow and manufacture so it and Theory Wellness will be the only two vertically integrated recreational marijuana companies in Maine when the market begins. Theory Wellness, one of the first licensed recreational marijuana stores in Maine, on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. State officials announced that the South Portland store, along with Sweet Relief in Northport, would be the first to be licensed as of October 9, 2020 received the sale of cannibis. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP Theory Wellness also has active licenses to grow and manufacture in Waterville. Until production is ramped up, Theory Wellness will purchase plants from licensed medical marijuana caregivers and put them through a healing process to prepare the products for sale, Winstanley said. Winstanley said Theory Wellness has started planting seedlings at the Waterville facility and will have its own plants in about two to three months. "We're working very hard to be able to produce," he said. "At the same time, I think if we have learned anything in the cannabis industry, it is that there are no guarantees that everything will go according to plan. We will take it every day."