With eight cannabis facilities lining its Main Street, there’s no denying the marijuana industry has grown Presque Isle’s business sector. Now, the city’s first adult-use store wants to enlarge its own footprint.
Full Bloom Cannabis, which launched in 2017 in Grand Isle, recently introduced a new chief executive officer and expanded its Presque Isle site. The company is now pursuing new markets, with the goal of adding two southern Aroostook stores within a year.
But some town rules — or lack thereof — are challenging that aim.
Cannabis may be a huge economic driver, but it isn’t easy to branch out, as Full Bloom is finding out. Acceptance is one roadblock: only about a quarter of Maine’s municipalities have opted in to recreational cannabis. Geography is another. In Aroostook County and other rural areas, towns are spread out and often far from city centers, so seeking approval takes time. But year by year, the industry is growing in Maine.
That’s why Full Bloom’s new CEO, Jimmy Coscina, is hitting the road to meet local officials and crack the code to open new markets.
“In the cannabis space, it’s a challenge to get to a new location,” Coscina said. “Every town has different rules, which we are more than willing to follow. So we’re going to one town council at a time and saying ‘Hey, we’re here.’”
In the nine years since Maine legalized recreational cannabis, statewide sales have skyrocketed from $4 million in 2020 to nearly $222 million last year. Combined with last year’s $234 million in medical marijuana sales, the pot industry smoked out even the state’s top food crop — potatoes — which brought in $288.3 million last year.
Adult-use retail sales for the first half of 2025 were $117.4 million, up from $115 million in the same period last year.
Since 2021, sales tax from medical and recreational cannabis has contributed $69 million in total to Maine’s economy. The first quarter of 2025 saw $5.7 million in sales tax revenue — the highest first quarter ever for all cannabis sales, state tax records indicate.
But much of Maine has been reluctant to adopt cannabis. That has included Hancock County, for instance, where many communities still haven’t approved adult-use weed, but Ellsworth narrowly approved it in November by a vote of 2,291 to 1,874. Other communities, such as Caribou and Houlton, allow medical dispensaries but not recreational stores.
Of Maine’s nearly 500 cities and towns, 126 allow retail adult-use cannabis, according to the state Office of Cannabis Policy. The office’s most recent data indicates that, statewide, there are 239 stores, 114 adult-use cultivation facilities and 99 manufacturers.
Presque Isle first approved recreational pot stores five years ago. Between adult use and medical, the city now has more marijuana businesses than any other Aroostook County community. Not one of them has closed, despite onetime fears the city couldn’t sustain them all.
Full Bloom, which started as a medical marijuana operation and manufacturer, was Aroostook’s first player in the recreational market. Former owner Steve Rusnack started an adult-use store in Grand Isle in 2021 and soon opened Presque Isle’s first retail shop.
Coscina had a small part in the business when it started out, working with silent partners. Within the past year, he came back to The County from Connecticut to manage sales, he said.
“We saw a lot of opportunity in the recreational space, and as I took more responsibility we ended up separating the two businesses, medical and recreational,” Coscina said.
He is now CEO of Full Bloom, which includes retail and manufacturing. The medical portion is no longer part of the company.
Presque Isle’s store was once located in a vintage Main Street building that formerly housed Marston’s Hallmark, a coffee shop and a cafe. The business recently moved up the street into a larger space, where it displays more products as well as local artwork.
Manager Raquel Beaulieu said the store has never been busier. The move generated an uptick in customers, which she attributed to increased visibility.
“People sitting at the traffic light often look in, because we’re near the light,” she said. “This section, from State Street to Academy Street, is kind of the heart of Presque Isle. It’s nice to be a part of that.”
Customers have been receptive to the new location, appreciating how bright the store is, Beaulieu said.
And at a time when inflation and fears of tariffs are affecting many industries, Full Bloom has been able to lower prices and remain competitive because its manufacturing facility is local, she said.
One manufacturer she deals with has had to raise prices because of tariffs. But while tariffs have hiked costs of some packaging and materials for Full Bloom, so far there have been minimal effects, Beaulieu said.
The company continues to market its edibles statewide, at cannabis stores from The County to Portland, Coscina said. Gummies and so-called “artisan edibles” — caramels, chocolate, baked treats — are their biggest wholesale products.
But there’s a new item making waves: THC salves for pain relief. It’s a line the company already plans to expand, he said.
From a business perspective, recreational marijuana faces a barrier that medical cannabis doesn’t — more stringent state-mandated testing, he said. Products must constantly be assessed for microbes, bacteria, mold and other impurities, and to ensure they have the correct potency.
Still, whether it’s new products or new storefronts, Coscina is committed to growth.
“The cannabis [industry] is always changing, because it’s still very, very new,” he said. “As new items, new manufacturers and new stores open up, you have to adapt. I find it super exciting.”
