An Act to Clarify Licensing Criteria and Criminal History Record Check and Notification Requirements for Adult Use Cannabis Establishments
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 2155
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: SUPICA, TIMBERLAKE
Amends: 28-B MRSA §102, 28-B MRSA §106, 28-B MRSA §202, 28-B MRSA §203, 28-B MRSA §204, 28-B MRSA §213

Legislative Document
No. 2155
H.P. 1379
House of Representatives, January 3, 2024
An Act to Clarify Licensing Criteria and Criminal History Record 
Check and Notification Requirements for Adult Use Cannabis 
Establishments
Submitted by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services pursuant to Joint 
Rule 203.
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SUPICA of Bangor.
Cosponsored by Senator TIMBERLAKE of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  28-B MRSA §102, sub-§42-A is enacted to read:
42-A.  Principal.  "Principal" means any natural person who manages, directs, 
superintends, restricts, regulates, governs, administers or otherwise oversees the applicant's 
or licensee's operations, including, but not limited to, activities and tasks that the applicant 
or licensee uses to produce goods and services, including planning, organizing, directing, 
coordinating and controlling various aspects of production, procurement, manufacturing, 
distribution and sales.  "Principal" includes, but is not limited to, an officer, director, 
member, manager, partner and employee or other natural person given that controlling 
authority or leading position over the applicant's or licensee's operations.  "Principal" does 
not include an owner of an applicant or licensee that is a direct financial interest holder but 
that does not have a controlling authority or leading position.  For purposes of this 
subsection, "operations" does not include human resources, information technology, 
marketing or accounting and finance, and "manager" does not include an employee of the 
applicant or licensee whose managerial responsibilities are limited to staff supervision 
related to the day-to-day operations of a cannabis establishment.
Sec. 2.  28-B MRSA §106, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, is 
amended to read:
The department shall issue individual identification cards to natural persons licensed 
under this chapter and, upon the request of a licensee, shall issue individual identification 
cards to owners, officers, managers principals, contractors, employees or other support staff 
of the licensee who meet the requirements of this section for the issuance of an individual 
identification card.
Sec. 3.  28-B MRSA §202, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6 and 
amended by PL 2021, c. 669, §5, is further amended to read:
An applicant for a license to operate a cannabis establishment must meet each of the 
following requirements, if applicable.  Except as otherwise provided in this section, if the 
applicant is a business entity, every officer, director, manager and general partner principal 
of the business entity must meet each of the requirements of this section.  An applicant 
shall disclose in or include with its application the names and addresses of the applicant 
and all natural persons and business entities having a direct or indirect financial interest in 
the applied-for license and the nature and extent of the financial interest held by each person 
or entity and, if applicable, the nature and extent of any financial interest the person or 
entity has in any other license applied for or issued under this chapter.
Sec. 4.  28-B MRSA §202, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, is 
amended to read:
1.  Age.  The applicant must be at least 21 years of age.  If the applicant is a business 
entity, every officer, director, manager and general partner principal of the business entity 
must be at least 21 years of age.
Sec. 5.  28-B MRSA §202, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, 
is amended to read:
A.  Every officer, director, manager and general partner principal of the business entity 
must be a natural person who is a resident; and
Sec. 6.  28-B MRSA §203, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6 and 
amended by PL 2021, c. 669, §5, is further amended to read:
An applicant for a license to operate a cannabis establishment shall submit, and the 
department shall consider in determining whether to grant the license, the following 
additional information.  If the applicant is a business entity, the applicant must submit the 
information required by this section for every officer, director, manager and general partner 
principal of the business entity.
Sec. 7.  28-B MRSA §204, first ¶, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, is 
amended to read:
The department shall request a criminal history record check for each applicant for a 
license under this chapter and may at any time require a licensee to submit to a criminal 
history record check in accordance with this section.  If the applicant is a business entity, 
every officer, director, manager and general partner principal of the business entity is 
required to submit to a criminal history record check in accordance with this section.  A 
criminal history record check conducted pursuant to this section must include criminal 
history record information obtained from the Maine Criminal Justice Information System 
established in Title 16, section 631 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Sec. 8.  28-B MRSA §213, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, is amended to 
read:
§213.  Notice of new owner, officer, manager principal or employee
Before any proposed new owner, officer, manager principal or employee may own, 
manage, work for or otherwise associate with a licensee, the licensee shall notify the 
department in writing of the name, address and date of birth of the proposed new owner, 
officer, manager principal or employee and the proposed new owner, officer, manager 
principal or employee shall submit to a criminal history record check pursuant to section 
204, obtain an individual identification card pursuant to section 106 and, in the case of a 
new owner or other person assuming an equity ownership interest or a partial equity 
ownership interest in the license, obtain approval for the transfer of ownership interests 
pursuant to section 210.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing the licensing of adult use cannabis establishments 
to clarify that the principals of a business entity include officers, directors, members, 
managers, partners and employees or other natural persons having a controlling or other 
decision-making authority in the establishment's operation and are subject to all licensing 
criteria, criminal history record check requirements and new ownership or employment 
notification requirements.  The bill also specifies that an owner of an adult use cannabis 
establishment is not a principal if that owner is a direct financial interest holder but does 
not have a controlling authority or leading position, and that the operation of an adult use 
cannabis establishment includes the activities and tasks that the applicant or licensee uses 
to produce goods and services but does not include human resources, information 
technology, marketing or accounting and finance.