A Year after Maryland Bill to Increase Minority Participation in the Medical Cannabis Industry

In April 2018, Maryland passed a new bill that would create 20 new licenses for medical cannabis cultivators and processors, while also mandating that the state's cannabis commission devises new guidelines to ensure that some of these licenses are granted to minorities.

Medical marijuana was legalized in Maryland back in 2013, but the state's first dispensaries did not open their doors until last December. The rollout of the program was delayed repeatedly by legal challenges arguing that the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC) failed to consider racial and geographic diversity when granting these licenses, among other issues. Although about a third of all Maryland residents are black, all the state's medical cannabis licenses were originally awarded to white-owned businesses.

"It's great, great," Delegate Cheryl D. Glenn, the bill's sponsor, said to The Baltimore Sun. "We are breaking ground with legislating diversity."

Maryland Bill Passed to Increase Minority Participation

A year after the bill there's not much to report in the way of progress, which is to be expected. Lawmakers passed bills and formed a Marijuana Legalization Work Shop to discuss issues related to a potential legalization program. The group is set to report their findings December 31, 2019.

2018 proved to be off to a great start with businesses maturing and production increasing. There have been many gains within the industry with a total of 71 licensed dispensaries, a registered patient pool that quadrupled to about 75,000 with sales of more than 10,800 pounds of flower and 730,000 cannabis infused products sold throughout the state. Those sales, collectively totaled $96.3 million in revenue for cannabis retailers.