Recreational:  18  691   Office of Marijuana Policy

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2.3 - Qualifications

2.3.1 General Licensing Criteria.  An applicant for a license to operate a marijuana 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 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 Rule.

A. 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 of the business entity must be at least 21 years of age.

B. Incorporated in State. If the applicant is a business entity, the business entity must be incorporated in the State of Maine or otherwise formed or organized under the laws of the State.

C. Prohibited persons.

(1) Not employee of state agency.  The applicant may not be employed by the Department or any other state agency with regulatory authority under this Rule. The applicant must disclose any current state employment.

(2) Not law enforcement officer or corrections officer. The applicant may not be a law enforcement officer; a corrections officer as defined in 25 MRS §2801-A(2); or any other natural person subject to the certification requirements of 25 MRS, chapter 341.

D. Good conduct and character.

(1)No disqualifying drug offense.

                                               (a)      Applicants are required to disclose all state and federal criminal convictions, as well as any pending prosecutions, for offenses punishable by imprisonment for one year or more and involving the possession, distribution, manufacturing, cultivation or use of a controlled substance.

                                              (b)      The Department may require supplemental information regarding any such convictions disclosed by the applicant or identified by a criminal background check.

(2)The Department may not grant a license to anyone convicted of such offenses, except that the Department may grant a license to an applicant if:

                                               (a)      The applicant completed his or her sentence, including any term of probation, incarceration or supervised release, 10 or more years prior to the submission of the application; or

                                              (b)      The conviction was based on conduct that is now authorized by 28-B MRS, chapter 3.

(3) Department consideration of other offenses.

                                               (a)      Applicants are required to disclose all state and federal criminal convictions for any offense involving dishonesty, deception, misappropriation or fraud, as well as any pending prosecutions for such offenses.

                                              (b)      The Department may require supplemental information regarding any such convictions disclosed by the applicant or identified by a criminal background check.

(4) The Department shall consider the following in determining whether to grant a license to an applicant convicted of offenses other than disqualifying drug offenses:  

                                               (a)      The recency of the offense(s);

                                              (b)      The number and frequency of offenses;

                                               (c)      Whether the offense(s) involved dishonesty, deception, misappropriation or fraud;

                                              (d)      Whether the offense(s) involved violence or threat of violence;

                                               (e)      Whether the offense(s) involved operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol;

                                               (f)      Evidence of rehabilitation, including employment and educational attainment; and

                                              (g)      Character references submitted by the applicant.

(5) No license revocation. The applicant, or if the applicant is a business entity, any officer, director, manager or general partner of that entity, may not have had previously had revoked a license issued under this Rule.

(6) No medical registry identification card or registration certificate revocation.  The applicant or any officer, director, manager and general partner if the applicant is a business entity, may not have had revoked a registry identification card or registration certificate previously issued pursuant to the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act.

(7) Departmental consideration of enforcement actions in other jurisdictions

                                               (a)      Applicants are required to disclose any violations or penalties imposed in another jurisdiction regarding the regulated cultivation, manufacture, testing or sale of marijuana or marijuana products.

(8) The Department may for good cause deny a license to an applicant if the applicant or any officer, director, manager or general partner if the applicant is a business entity, has had revoked a license, permit, certificate or other government-issued authorization issued in another jurisdiction allowing the cultivation, manufacture, testing or sale of marijuana or marijuana products or has faced significant penalties under such authorization.

(9) No outstanding court-ordered payments.  A license may not be issued to an applicant if that applicant, or any business entity in which that applicant is an officer, director, manager or general partner, has any outstanding payments due on court-ordered fines, court-appointed attorney's fees or court-ordered restitution.  Except that the Department may issue a license to an applicant if it is satisfied that the applicant has entered into, and is in compliance with, any agreement or payment plan for the remittance of any fines, fees, or restitution owed.

(10) Departmental consideration of past due taxes, interest, penalties or fees in Maine.

                                               (a)      Applicants are required to submit a detailed list of any pending past due taxes, interest, penalties or fees owed in Maine.

                                              (b)      The Department may for good cause deny a license to an applicant if the applicant, or if the applicant is a business entity, any officer, director, manager or general partner of that business entity, is currently delinquent in any payment of income tax, sales tax, excise tax or any other tax, interest, penalty or fee to the state or any municipality within the state. The Department will consider:

                                                                                            (i)      The amount of the delinquency;

                                                                                            (ii)     Whether deceit was involved; and

                                                                                            (iii)   Whether the applicant, or if the applicant is a business entity, any officer, director, manager, or general partner of that business entity to whom this paragraph applies, has entered into, and is in compliance with, any agreement or payment plan with the relevant tax authority overseeing the tax liability for which the applicant is otherwise delinquent.

(11) Other mitigating circumstances.

(12) Departmental consideration of past tax delinquency.

                                               (a)      Applicants, and if the applicant is a business entity, every officer, director, manager and general partner of the business entity, are required to provide detailed tax history, covering Maine and all other jurisdictions in which taxes were owed, for the 5 years preceding the application.

(13)  The Department shall consider an applicant’s history, and if the applicant is a business entity, every officer’s, director’s, manager’s and general partner’s history of paying taxes to Maine and other jurisdictions in the previous 2 years, as well as any tax liens imposed in any jurisdiction in the previous 5 years, and may for good cause deny a license to an applicant with a recent history of tax delinquency.

E. Criminal history record check.  The applicant must have submitted to a criminal history record check in accordance with the requirements of 28-B MRS and this Rule.

F. Compliance with application process; no false statement of material fact.  The applicant must have completed all application forms required by the Department fully and truthfully and complied with all information requests of the department relating to the license application. A license may not be issued to an applicant that has knowingly or recklessly made any false statement of material fact to the Department in applying for a license under this Rule. The Department shall revoke the license of a licensee pursuant to 28-B MRS, chapter 1, subchapter 8 if, subsequent to the issuance of the license, the Department determines that the licensee knowingly or recklessly made a false statement of material fact to the Department in applying for the license.