PARIS — The Board of Selectmen on Monday questioned whether medical marijuana dispensaries can be banned from the town.

Voters at a special town meeting in July approved a six-month moratorium on the establishment of dispensaries in town. During this period, the town may not act on any dispensary applications, and selectmen will study the issue to develop appropriate land use regulations for the establishment of dispensaries.

Town Manager Philip Tarr said the establishment of dispensaries could be included in the town’s site plan review, similar to the proposed incorporation of the issue into Bangor’s zoning code. On Monday evening, the Bangor City Council rejected an amendment to the code which would have restricted the areas where dispensaries and cultivating facilities could be established.

Tarr also presented the board with town attorney Geoffrey Hole’s response to a question by Selectman Ted Kurtz, who had asked whether towns, in limiting the number of dispensaries, could limit the number to zero. Hole said he did not believe the town could ban dispensaries outright.

“I don’t think not allowing any is the intended reading of the word ‘limiting,’” he said.

Selectman Lloyd “Skip” Herrick said he assumed the majority of the people who voted in favor of a moratorium would also be against having a dispensary in town. However, he also noted how the state has taken steps to regulate the establishment of dispensaries, including the state approval of six initial licenses.

“If I had my druthers personally, I would not want one in the town of Paris,” Herrick said.

Selectman Jean Smart said she would be uneasy banning dispensaries from the town due to the approval of dispensaries at a statewide ballot in 2009. The question in that vote sought to establish locations for the distribution to prescription holders of medical marijuana, which was legalized in Maine in 1999. Paris voted 1,167 to 880 in favor of the question.

“If the majority of citizens in Paris voted in favor of using medical marijuana, I don’t see how we can, five of us, say no,” Smart said.

Chairman Raymond Glover was absent from Monday’s meeting, and the board decided to continue discussion of whether to pursue a ban or have the Planning Board begin looking at new regulations for dispensaries.

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