An Act to Limit Cannabis Cultivation Licenses to Protect the Cannabis Market
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1391
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: PIERCE, PERRY, DAUGHTRY, GROHOSKI, RENY
Amends: 28-B MRSA §201, 28-B MRSA §305

Legislative Document
No. 1391
S.P. 558
In Senate, March 28, 2023
An Act to Limit Cannabis Cultivation Licenses to Protect the 
Cannabis Market
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator PIERCE of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative PERRY of Bangor and
Senators: DAUGHTRY of Cumberland, GROHOSKI of Hancock, RENY of Lincoln.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  28-B MRSA §201, last ¶, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 409, Pt. A, §6, is 
amended to read:
Except as provided in section 205 and section 305, the department may not impose any 
limitation on the number of each type of license that it issues to a qualified individual 
applicant or on the total number of each type of license that it issues to qualified applicants 
pursuant to this chapter.
Sec. 2.  28-B MRSA §305 is enacted to read:
§305.  License restrictions
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the department may 
impose a moratorium on conditional cultivation facility licenses and renewal licenses for a 
tier with a greater area of authorized plant canopy under section 303 when the department 
determines that:
1. Price decrease. The average monthly price per gram of cannabis cultivated and sold 
by all cultivation facilities has decreased by more than 20% in any 2 consecutive fiscal 
quarters from the average monthly price per gram of cultivated cannabis from the prior 
year as calculated by the department from data reported pursuant to section 113, subsection 
2, paragraph F; or
2. Product demand decrease.  The current volume of cannabis cultivated by all 
cultivation facilities is at least 3 times the volume of cannabis sold by all cannabis stores 
in any 90-day period.
A moratorium imposed under this section must last for 4 consecutive months or until 
data received by the department indicates the conditions in subsections 1 and 2 no longer 
exist, whichever is later.
SUMMARY
This bill allows the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to impose a 
moratorium on issuing a new conditional cultivation license or renewing a cultivation 
license for a tier with a greater area of authorized plant canopy if the department determines 
that: the average monthly price per gram of cannabis cultivated and sold by all licensed 
cultivation facilities has decreased by more than 20% in any 2 consecutive fiscal quarters 
from the average monthly price per gram of cultivated cannabis from the prior year as 
calculated by the department from data reported pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 28-B, section 113, subsection 2, paragraph F; or the current volume of cannabis 
cultivated by all licensed cultivation facilities is at least 3 times the volume of cannabis 
sold by all licensed cannabis stores in any 90-day period.  A moratorium must last for 4 
consecutive months, or until data received by the department indicates the moratorium 
conditions no longer exist, whichever is later.