Jars of cannabis flowers are shown in June 2020 at a shop in Hallowell. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

AUGUSTA — City councilors have decided it is high time for Augusta to allow adults to purchase recreational marijuana in the city.

Councilors voted 5-1 Thursday to allow recreational cannabis businesses to open and operate in Augusta, joining neighboring communities including Manchester, Hallowell and Gardiner in allowing recreational marijuana sales since residents statewide voted to legalize the sales in 2016.

Councilors also voted to remove the cap on the number of cannabis businesses that are allowed to operate in the city, where medical marijuana businesses have been allowed to operate for several years.

Under state law, licensed recreational cannabis retailers can sell cannabis products to anyone age 21 and older, whereas medical marijuana businesses can only sell to those who have obtained a medical marijuana card issued by a medical provider.

In 2023, recreational retailers reported more than 3.7 million sale transactions totaling $217 million, up from $159 million in 2022. As of January, there were 138 recreational cannabis retailers in Maine.

The city’s previous medical marijuana ordinance limited the number of medical marijuana retail shops to 15, a cap that will be removed when the new rules take effect, 30 days from Thursday’s approval.

That change was one reason the lone councilor opposed to the new rules, At-Large Councilor Abigail St. Valle, voted against the proposal. She said not having a cap could further flood the already-saturated marijuana market and bring too many of those businesses to Augusta.

At-Large Councilor Stephanie Sienkiewicz said she heard those concerns but doesn’t believe the city should treat cannabis businesses any differently than other businesses by placing a cap on the number of them, which could hamper the growth of business in the city.

“I think it’s the right thing to do both in balancing our planning, which our Planning Board does very well, and our economic growth to allow for businesses to come in and attempt to conduct their business in our city,” Sienkiewicz said. “I’d be more concerned about releasing the cap on businesses if this was 2016. But given that the surrounding towns and cities have opted in for quite some time, I am less concerned about flooding the market, given that many of the consumers are already purchasing these items just outside our borders.”

Mayor Mark O’Brien, who per the city charter only votes on ordinance changes when there is a tie vote by councilors and thus could not vote on the recreational cannabis proposal, nonetheless spoke against it.

He said Augusta residents already have plenty of opportunity to find recreational cannabis in surrounding communities where it is already legally sold. He said it’s not a business he wants to encourage or wants Augusta, as the state capital, to be known for, adding that recreational use of marijuana is still illegal under federal law, and Augusta residents voted against legalizing recreational marijuana use in the 2016 statewide referendum.

Some councilors previously expressed concern about allowing a specific type of manufacturing of cannabis products using an extraction process that uses butane, propane or other potentially explosive substances to extract THC from cannabis. They asked the Planning Board to look into regulating those types of businesses and placing additional restrictions on them, beyond those for other marijuana businesses.

However, according to a memo from Betsy Poulin, city planner, and Eva Nielsen, assistant planner, Planning Board members felt existing state licensing and building code requirements, combined with inspections by city code enforcement officers, provide adequate oversight for regulating such manufacturing facilities.