Company sues to get into Maine's medical marijuana market

PORTLAND, Maine (Legal Newsline) – A company that wants to invest in Maine’s medical marijuana market is complaining about a residency requirement that gives in-staters an advantage.

“The residency requirement harms both non-residents and Maine dispensaries… by arbitrarily limiting the universe of potential investors and business partners available to these businesses,” says the lawsuit, filed Dec. 17 in federal court.

The investor complaining is High Street, an out-of-state entity who has teamed with Wellness Connection, the owner of four dispensaries in the state, to bring the lawsuit. They say the requirement that dispensaries are owned and controlled by Maine residents violates the Commerce Clause.

There are currently only eight dispensaries in the state, the lawsuit says, which accounted for $26.3 million in sales in 2019.