FARMINGTON — Selectmen decided Tuesday to postpone a decision on whether to support a legislative bill to regulate adult use of marijuana.

The decision was made after Sen. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton, was unable to attend this week’s board meeting to request support of L.D. 1719.

The emergency bill facilitates the development and administration of a regulated marketplace in Maine for adult use marijuana and regulation of the personal use of marijuana, and the home cultivation of marijuana for personal adult use.

Luke Sirois, an advocate of legalizing marijuana, asked selectmen to endorse the bill to help get it passed. If Saviello can show communities are in support, it might help legislators decide on the bill, he said.

“The intent is to promote a tightly regulated system,” Sirois said, one that would require cannabis growers to appear before the Planning Board for licensing. The town would know who’s growing, he said.

Farmington plans to draft an Adult Use Marijuana Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance changes for it.

The Planning Board voted in December to “table any further action on the draft until the Legislature decides what it’s doing in this regard with LD 1719,” Code Enforcement Officer J. Stevens Kaiser wrote in a memo to selectmen. Kaiser was unable to attend the meeting.

“There is a very strong likelihood that the Legislature will enact another moratorium by the end of the month,” he said.

The local process is dependent on the state process, Town Manager Richard Davis said.

The Maine Municipal Association also is working on a proposal for regulation, he said.

Selectman Matthew Smith said he was hesitant to speak for all residents in a resolution to support the bill.

“We all want to see it regulated,” Selectman Michael Fogg said, “but I’m not informed enough to support the legislation.”

Selectman Stephan Bunker agreed, saying he likes to be clear on what he supports. He preferred to see what the bill includes before deciding whether to endorse it.

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