Two houses in Bucksport are being used to grow cannabis for the state’s medical market without having required local licenses, according to its code enforcement officer.
The properties are on Route 46 and Williams Pond Road. CEO Luke Chiavelli said he had believed at least one of them was growing cannabis without local authorization for years.
The town was recently alerted that owners of both properties had gotten state approval to grow medical cannabis, he said, proving the houses were used for the purpose. He also said the state approvals were given despite requirements that their operations are authorized locally, alleging the owners had lied on applications.
The situation illustrates how regulatory oversight of Maine’s marijuana market has evolved in recent years but still faces snags, just four years after another house in Bucksport was revealed to be an illegal growing site when it caught fire and burned down. It has also raised questions among Bucksport officials about state approvals of such facilities in Maine’s more lightly regulated medical cannabis market.
Town officials have suggested the state should need to check with the town about local compliance before issuing an approval. In discussions with other town officials on the issue, Mayor Paul Bissonnette and other councilors have noted the stricter regulations for growing and selling recreational marijuana compared to the medical market.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about internally is perhaps reaching out to our legislators to say that when somebody applies for a liquor license, the town has to sign off on that license prior to it being issued,” Town Manager Jacob Gran said. “And [how] marijuana establishments are treated differently, where they can just check the box and say ‘Yeah, we meet everything,’ but there’s no review whatsoever from the town, seems a little bit backwards.”
Chiavelli sent notices of violation to the Route 46 property owner requiring them to apply for local licenses, which Bucksport has required since August 2022 for all cannabis operations. If they don’t, he could take them to court for land use violations, representing the town himself.
Chiavelli said he heard late last week that they would attempt to comply with town requirements. He was waiting to hear back from the state about the Williams Pond Road property before sending notices.
Alexis Soucy, director of media relations for the state Office of Cannabis Policy, said one active caregiver is operating in Bucksport. The town has a second caregiver that “as of recently is not engaged in any authorized activities,” she said.
Registered caregivers are allowed by the state to assist prescribed patients with getting marijuana, which can include the caregivers growing it for their patients. Maine also authorizes cannabis manufacturing and testing facilities.
To register as a caregiver, a person only needs to prove municipal authorization if they’re operating as a retail business or if they use “inherently hazardous substances” as part of growing or processing their products, Soucy said. Those substances include liquid chemicals, compressed gas or other commercial products with a flash point at or below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, such as butane, propane or diethyl ether, according to state rules.
They do have to affirm with the state that they are not violating any local ordinances, Soucy said.
There are no cannabis businesses in Bucksport involved in manufacturing with hazardous materials, according to Soucy. The town has a recreational adult-use cannabis store, which opened last year and is regulated differently.
“OCP regularly cooperates with municipalities to provide information about the registered caregivers operating in their community and the activities they are authorized to do,” Soucy said. “The Office also provides municipalities with notice of caregiver registrations upon application.”
This is not the first time town officials have had to deal with the discovery of local indoor marijuana growing operations. In February 2022, a fire at 1403 Bucksmills Road destroyed a grow house and led to federal charges against two men accused of committing bank fraud to purchase and use the property for illegal marijuana growing.
Yuantong Liang and Yongliang Deng were accused of lying to banks in 2020 to get mortgages for the Bucksport house and for two others in Eddington and Canaan that were used for the same purpose. Last fall, they pleaded guilty to some charges related to bank fraud and marijuana growing, while others were dropped.
A fire investigator was unable to determine the cause of the Bucksport blaze, but it likely was related to the “numerous grow lights and associated marijuana cultivation items being used,” according to a report previously obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
That was one of two properties – along with the one on Route 46 which he said got state approval this summer – that Chiavelli said he had long suspected to be marijuana grow houses, in part because of their high energy usage. He alerted the police but didn’t have enough proof to be able to go on the property, he said.
The town was previously unaware of the Williams Pond Road property, which received state approval in recent weeks.
He hasn’t been inside either property and doesn’t believe they are doing anything criminal if they have state approval, Chiavelli said.
The town’s requirement for growing facilities to obtain business licenses is similar to the process for any other business, he said. Its requirements include proof of security systems, odor control and an inspection by code enforcement and the fire department.
It also helps the fire department know what to expect if they’re called to a house where marijuana is being grown, Chiavelli said.
He’s also concerned about the safety of medical marijuana coming from such locations, citing dangers including hanging electrical wires and open pesticide containers that he saw at a grow house in Orland. Chiavelli also serves as that town’s code enforcement officer.
Compared to the state’s regulated and tracked recreational adult use market, “you go to the medical stuff and it’s a complete free-for-all,” he said.
Maine does not require contaminant testing for medical marijuana, which some health advocates and state officials unsuccessfully have pushed to change. In recent years, some medical products have been found to contain mold and pesticides.