UPDATE: Maine Drops Residency Requirement for Adult-Use Commercial Licenses, Moots Legal Challenge
A few weeks ago I blogged about an interesting lawsuit challenging Maine’s residency requirement for commercial recreational marijuana licenses. See Company Sues Maine for Discriminating Against Non-residents When Licensing Marijuana Businesses. Brought by a Delaware corporation, the suit claimed that the residency requirement violated the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine.
Although I suggested two reasons why Maine might have prevailed in the suit, it appears the State Attorney General thought otherwise. As reported in various outlets, on the advice of the AG, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy (the state’s licensing agency) has dropped the residency requirement for adult-use commercial licenses. See, e.g., Penelope Overton, Maine drops residency requirement for recreational marijuana businesses, Press Herald.
As the Press Herald story notes, however, Maine continues to bar non-residents from its medical marijuana market — and some local governments have imposed their own residency requirements (including for the adult-use market). So it’s possible that the plaintiff in the now mooted case (Wellness) or another plaintiff might proceed with a similar suit challeng