Tiverton voters, who for years have had a recreational marijuana dispensary just over the state line in Fall River, voted Tuesday to allow retail sale of the drug when it is permitted starting in December.

The final Tiverton vote for State Question 8 was 3,230 for and 2,666 against.

It is still unknown whether Tiverton will be granted a license for "businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacture, laboratory testing and for the retail sale of adult recreational use cannabis," as the law states.

The Rhode Island Cannabis Act, passed in late May, creates six zones to evenly distribute 24 available recreational licenses across the state. Each zone will get four. Zone 6, in which Tiverton sits, also includes Barrington, Bristol, East Providence, Warren and Little Compton. Voters in that town rejected the retail sale of marijuana in Tuesday's election.

Though sales are allowed after September, it could be some time before brick and mortar stores open. The state Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), which is charged with overseeing licensing and rules on how sales will be conducted, has yet to be appointed, and likely won't be until the new legislature convenes in January.

“Realistically you’re probably looking at 2024 before any standalone stores open,” said Dr. Seth Bock, CEO of Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center, Inc., a medical marijuana dispensary that has been operating in Portsmouth since 2013.

— With reports from Ethan Hartley