Residents of a Blue Hill peninsula town voted for the third time in one year on Tuesday not to allow recreational marijuana sales, putting an end to a local’s goal of opening the area’s first such store — for now.
Sedgwick residents voted 428 to 294 on Tuesday against the measure, their second ‘no’ on the question this year. The decision follows a similar vote in neighboring Blue Hill in 2025.
All three bids were brought forth by Brian Sherwell of Sedgwick, who said he and wife, Abril, saw a missed opportunity in the area’s lack of a recreational store.
“The community has spoken, and that’s how they see it right now,” he said Wednesday. “It’s clear at this point that the peninsula just isn’t ready for a store of this kind.”
The votes contrast the peninsula with some other Maine communities that embraced recreational marijuana establishments in the five years since they were legalized, though some later tried to limit their number of stores. Most of Hancock County has not opted in to allowing them, according to state data. The nearest recreational shops are in Bucksport and Ellsworth.
Opponents mostly seemed concerned about negative impacts on the community, which he pushed back on as misconceptions, Sherwell said.
Nearby Penobscot also faces a substance question later this month with a vote on whether to allow on-premise liquor sales in the semi-dry town. Some residents there have similarly worried that would change their quiet community for the worse.
To allow adult-use, or recreational, marijuana stores — separate from medical establishments — towns have to vote to “opt in” under state law.
An opt-in vote doesn’t automatically open the door to a store, as a town then needs to develop and approve an ordinance for regulating and licensing them.
Sherwell, who grew up on the peninsula and returned several years ago, said he feels Maine has benefited from job growth in its successful cannabis industry, which reduces black market demand.
He chose to pursue adult use because of exhaustive state safety standards, especially compared to Maine’s looser tracking rules for medical marijuana.
It was also a philosophical decision for Sherwell, who said he doesn’t think people should need a medical card to buy a product that’s been grown agriculturally for thousands of years.
“A lot of what it comes down to, it seems like, is the perception of stores being places for stoners and attracting the wrong kind of people and the wrong kind of business to town,” Sherwell said of the opposition. “Which I think is clearly a misconception.”
Sherwell added that he doesn’t think of cannabis users as “stoners,” and people who consume it live “healthy, productive lives.”
If he did get the go-ahead, Sherwell wanted to spotlight interesting, small Maine farms that are farther from the busy Portland market, he said.
Blue Hill, a service center for peninsula towns, voted down his opt-in initiative last November. Sedgwick did the same initially in March. Sherwell brought the question back Tuesday to hear from more voters with higher turnout for the midterms.
Sherwell expects to try again at some point, saying it’s a matter of time until public sentiment changes, but he has ‘no desire’ to bring opting in before local voters again in the immediate future.
“There is a very positive attitude for a lot of people on this peninsula, especially the under 50 crowd,” he said. “… I know it will come with time, but just not today.”
