(Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post file)

Maine shops offer free weed ‘gifts’ while waiting for state to work out sales

A Biddeford business owner hoping to start selling pot next year is giving his products away for free for now.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Jack Sargent of the Biddeford-based Cannabis Shack is accepting donations for shipping and handling while waiting for the state to issue retail licenses.

It’s legal to accept free gifts of pot and some say the limbo before the opening of retail stores is pushing otherwise law-abiding citizens into an underground market.

Some states have cracked down on such practices.

The voter-approved law legalizing marijuana took effect in January.

Adults can legally possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow their own plants.

But no one can legally sell pot as Maine works through the extensive process of regulating the sale of marijuana.