Augusta Cannabis Co., shown Friday at left, beside Gas $ Less, received approval Thursday from the city of Augusta to open a recreational use marijuana dispensary there. The same owners also run Homegrown Augusta Medical Dispensary which will continue to operate in same building with a separate entrance at 393 Western Ave. Suite 1. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — City councilors approved licenses for Augusta’s first-ever recreational cannabis retail stores Thursday after many years of only allowing medical marijuana sales while recreational sales took place in neighboring municipalities.
Augusta has allowed medical marijuana businesses in the city since 2019 but councilors at the time opted out of allowing recreational marijuana businesses.
Councilors voted, 5-1, to allow recreational cannabis sales earlier this summer and voted unanimously to approve licenses for two new recreational shops, Augusta Cannabis Co. and Origins Cannabis Co., the owners of which already operate existing medical marijuana businesses in the city.
Shanna Souza of West Gardiner owns Augusta Cannabis Co., the first business to be awarded a recreational, or adult-use, license. Souza was also the first applicant to get city approval to open a medical marijuana business in 2019, operating as Homegrown of Augusta.
Her recreational marijuana shop will be in the same 393 Western Ave. building, a former gas station, that’s home to Homegrown of Augusta medical marijuana shop. It will be in a separate part of the building, however, as state law requires that recreational and medical operations not be connected to or accessible to each other without going outside and reentering.
Souza said her plans for the recreational shop include an educational component about the use of cannabis, as does the medical cannabis shop.
“It’s important to me, as it has been since I’ve entered this industry, that people get educated. So I believe, even if you’re coming in for adult-use, you’re still medicating,” Souza told city councilors Thursday.
Origins Cannabis Co. owner David Vickers of Hallowell, the other applicant to be granted a license Thursday, plans to open Origins’ first recreational cannabis shop in a standalone building, separate from its three Augusta medical marijuana shops on Bangor Street, Eastern Avenue and Civic Center Drive. Origins also has a cultivation facility in Hallowell and a recreational shop in neighboring Manchester, two of the communities near Augusta where recreational sales were already allowed.
The new Origins recreational shop will be located at 6 Orchard St., just off Western Avenue behind Damon’s pizza and sandwich shop, in the former Bubs beverage store.
Engineer Ben Murray of AE Hodsdon in Waterville said improvements put into the previously neglected building included fixing the parking lot, interior renovations, improved access for people with disabilities, and exterior improvements, for which some councilors expressed their appreciation.
“I live very close to this location. I’m very happy to see this building getting the attention it needs,” said At-Large Councilor Stephanie Sienkiewicz. “Thank you for the businesses you’ve opened in Augusta and the way you care for those businesses and making sure they’re staffed well. The way you run your businesses is exactly the kind of model we want here.”
Vickers was asked by councilors about taxes marijuana businesses pay, he said cultivators are charged a per-pound tax based upon the item involved. For example, one charge would be $335 a pound for flower, or the bud, of marijuana plants. Additionally, when sold in a retail store, medical marijuana is taxed by the state at 5.5% and recreational cannabis at 10%.
Under state law, licensed recreational cannabis retailers can sell their products to anyone 21 and older, whereas medical marijuana businesses can only sell to those who have obtained a medical marijuana card issued by a medical provider.
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