Marijuana caregiver consultant Darrell Gudroe of Boothbay Harbor voiced his concerns to Southport selectmen April 19, over the wording of the bylaw town meeting voters passed last month making Southport a “dry town” regarding retail marijuana.

The bylaw addition reads: “There shall be no commercial sale, retail production, retail establishments or marijuana social clubs within the confines of Southport, Maine. This is no way inhibits the personal use of marijuana as allowed by law.”

Gudroe asked if the rule was also meant to apply to caregivers.

“No, just commercial growing and selling. For anything medical, nothing changes,” Selectman Smith Climo responded.

Gudroe stated it does ban caregivers due to its ambiguity. He offered to draft new wording. According to Gudroe, under current Maine law, a medically licensed caregiver can open up a storefront out of their home, serving five patients at any one time. For each patient, a caregiver is allowed six flowering marijuana plants.

Selectman Gerry Gamage said the board would be more than willing to listen to Gudroe’s recommendations, but “if you have different verbiage, we would need to amend at a town meeting with the voters.”

Climo reiterated that he never wanted a new bylaw to impact the medical aspect of marijuana.

“We didn’t want smoking parlors or a storefront,” Climo said. “In people’s own houses if they want to grow, or smoke, bless them.”

Gudroe offered to draft a proposal and bring it to a future meeting. The selectmen thanked him for coming and voicing his concerns, and said they looked forward to seeing what he came up with.

Under the “Marijuana Legalization Act,” anyone 21 years of age or older is allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of prepared marijuana and cultivate a limited number of plants at home. Smoking marijuana is limited to places where people can already smoke tobacco products.