Law Maryland MMJ

[momofthegoons]

Congratulations @Baron23!!!!!! One step closer.......

 

[Baron23]

Congratulations @Baron23!!!!!! One step closer.......

I grin every time I take it out of my billfold. Never thought I would see the day.

Cheers

 

[Baron23]

Maryland court denies delay of medical marijuana licensing

By Brian Witte | AP June 9 at 2:42 PM
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s medical marijuana commission can continue to issue licenses for companies to grow the drug.

Maryland’s highest court denied a motion Friday to continue a temporary restraining order that blocked the commission from issuing licenses for about a week, due to a lawsuit against the commission. The court also agreed to hear arguments from finalists to be licensed who contend they should have been allowed to intervene in the lawsuit. The Court of Appeals set a July 27 hearing date.

“We are gratified by the Court’s swift disposition of the restraining order, thus allowing this critically important public health program to proceed,” said Alan Rifkin, an attorney representing 13 of the 15 finalists.

The request to block the issuing of more licenses came from Alternative Medicine, a company that was not named a finalist. The company alleges the commission didn’t consider diversity as required by law when naming finalists. Brian Brown, an attorney for Alternative Medicine, said the company hopes the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission will wait until the legal case is resolved before issuing any more licenses.

“The commission would be unwise to issue growers’ licenses, given that we remain fully confident that we will succeed on the merits under any circumstances, thereby invalidating the medical cannabis licensing process as it was conducted contrary to the law,” Brown said.

Well, this does restore at least a bit of my confidence that there are still people of intelligence and possessed of common sense in at least one branch of my state government. We are on a ROOOOOOll, baby! One final cultivator license has been issue and hopefully we will see a bunch of other final licenses issued in the next couple of weeks for growers and processors.

 

[Baron23]

Judge lifts restraining order on Maryland grow licenses

By Brian Witte, The Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s medical marijuana commission can continue to issue licenses to companies to grow the drug.

Maryland’s highest court denied a motion Friday to continue a temporary restraining order that blocked the commission from issuing licenses for about a week, due to a lawsuit against the commission.

The request to block the issuing of more licenses came from Alternative Medicine. The company alleges the commission didn’t consider diversity as required by law when naming finalists.

The court also agreed to hear arguments from finalists to be licensed who contend they should have been allowed to weigh against the lawsuit. The court set a July 27 hearing date.

So far, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has only awarded one of 15 licenses allowed in the law.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland regulators want to deny license to medical cannabis firm

Erin CoxContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun
Maryland medical marijuana regulators took steps Monday to deny a license to one of the 15 companies picked to grow the drug, saying there was a "reasonable likelihood" the firm would not properly safeguard the medicine.

In voting to tell MaryMed LLC that it would not receive a final license, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission cited concerns about MaryMed LLC's former parent company Vireo Health, which operates medical marijuana businesses in two other states. The commission also faulted MaryMed for not cooperating with Maryland investigators.

The concerns stem from the February indictment of two former Vireo executives, who face felony charges in Minnesota for allegedly smuggling a half-million dollars worth of cannabis oil across state lines in December 2015.

Maryland regulators said MaryMed mentioned those two executives by name in its November 2015 application to grow the drug here, and the firm "emphasized that its operations in Minnesota and New York, and the experience gained thereby, demonstrated its ability to successfully operate medical cannabis operations in Maryland."

Commissioner Eric Sterling said in a written statement that when Maryland investigators asked MaryMed to explain, company executives demurred. Sterling said that, combined with a few other factors, commissioners concluded there is "a reasonable likelihood of diversion of medical cannabis by the applicant."

MaryMed representatives said it will appeal the commission's decision.

"We're deeply disappointed by the commission's recommendation, particularly as it appears to be based on innuendo and misinformation instead of facts," spokesman Andrew Mangini said in a statement.

Last week, Pennsylvania awarded a medical cannabis growing license to another subsidiary of Vireo. State officials there defended the decision in news reports by saying those former executives indicted in Minnesota no longer work with Vireo.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of Maryland's cannabis commission, said his agency would not pick another company to grow the drug here until after the MaryMed action was fully resolved. That process could involve a lengthy administrative hearing.

Taking a tour of ForwardGro, one of the 15 pre-approved medical marijuana growers in the state. (Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)

The potential revocation of a lucrative license comes as the commission faces two pending lawsuits over how it picked the companies to grow cannabis. The state's long-delayed medical marijuana program — first approved in 2013 — has been off to a rocky start, and a delegation of state lawmakers have vowed to create a new commission to oversee it.

Just one company has received permission to start growing marijuana, and it has said the drug will be ready for patients in early fall.

The same day last month that commissioners approved a final growing license for ForwardGro, the regulators voted to suspend MaryMed's preliminary license because it had not produced records despite repeated requests.

On Monday, in his report to the rest of the commission, Sterling noted that MaryMed was not forthright about other developments.

MaryMed and Vireo underwent a corporate restructuring to become two separate entities in September 2016 — a month after Maryland regulators picked MaryMed as one of the top-ranked firms to grow drug.

Sterling said that even though MaryMed was required to tell the state about such a change within three business days, the company took 93 business days to do so. He added that MaryMed was later slow to aid investigators who were looking into ties between the one-time sister companies, and that MaryMed still has a $30,000-a-month consulting contract with Vireo.

"This conduct undermined any confidence that this organization would comply with our regulations," Sterling said.

The Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, which represents MaryMed and nearly two dozen companies picked to grow and process the drug, declined to comment on Monday's decision.

Kate Bell, a lawyer with the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that the indicted Vireo executives allegedly did something that would be legal for firms in other industries — shipping products across state lines.

"Luckily for patients, there are many other applicants who appear to be willing and able to grow medicine, and we look forward to this program finally becoming operational as soon as possible."

""We're deeply disappointed by the commission's recommendation, particularly as it appears to be based on innuendo and misinformation instead of facts," spokesman Andrew Mangini said in a statement." What innuendo and misinformation....they caught the mofo's with a truck load of oil heading toward NY!

MaryMed was to operate in Dorchester County. i'm not sure, but this may have been one of the two applicants who didn't make the cut until the state put some body English on it for "geographical diversity" which equals" pay back for votes, really.

"Kate Bell, a lawyer with the Marijuana Policy Project, noted that the indicted Vireo executives allegedly did something that would be legal for firms in other industries — shipping products across state lines" This is true....but SO WHAT. Look, I support the MPP but what the hell does this have to do with anything. We are continuing to strive to show our various governments and peoples in this country that MJ can be a well regulated, benigh, good neighbor, industry. Doing the modern version of rum running ain't helping.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland approves first medical marijuana dispensary

Regulators approved Maryland's first medical marijuana dispensary on Wednesday, authorizing a Frederick company to open its doors immediately even though the drug will not be available for months.

The Wellness Institute of Maryland plans to start seeing patients Thursday and take what owner Michael Kline called "pre-orders" for cannabis.

"We are fully equipped to deliver medicine as soon as we have it," Kline said minutes after the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission approved his license.

Although Maryland legalized medical marijuana more than four years ago, just one firm is authorized to grow it. That first crop is not expected to be ready until after Labor Day.

The commission also on Wednesday delayed a vote to authorize a second grower, Curio Wellness in Baltimore County. A commissioner said the panel has Requested additional information from Curio, but would not discuss the issue publicly. Curio CEO Michael Bronfein called the move "regrettable," and said the commission never made him aware of any missing information. He said state inspectors approved his facility on June 14.
"Our state of the art facility is ready," Bronfein said in a statement. "Every day the commission fails to provide our stage two license delays patients access to safe, reliable, and effective medicine."

The remaining companies picked to launch Maryland's marijuana growing and processing industry have just six weeks to secure a final license or risk losing out on the state's lucrative market.

A year ago, the commission awarded 15 preliminary growing licenses and 15 preliminary processing licenses. If those firms are not granted final licenses by Aug. 15 — a year from when they were selected — the commission could revoke the companies' opportunities to work in Maryland's medical marijuana industry.

"The clock is ticking," said Patrick Jameson, the commission's executive director.

Jameson said the commission plans to meet more frequently in the coming weeks to approve those licenses after each applicant undergoes a final state inspection. The commission also picked 102 companies to open dispensaries across the state, but they do not face the same Aug. 15 deadline.

The state's medical marijuana program has been beset by controversy and lawsuits over how the state picked winning firms and whether minority-owned companies could fairly compete for the licenses. Some state lawmakers are pushing to remake the commission and award more licenses.

The limited supply of growers and the broad base of potential patients made Maryland a highly sought after market that attracted hundreds of applications to launch the program. Already, nearly 9,000 patients have signed up to register with the state, and that count does not include the out-of-state patients who are permitted by law to buy marijuana here.

Regulators, concerned about potential fraud, are reconsidering regulations governing how out-of-state patients are allowed to register with the cannabis commission. Jameson said they hope to have a resolution soon.

Meanwhile, fewer than 300 doctors have registered to recommend the drug — less than 2 percent of the state's 16,000 physicians.

Last month, a new law took effect that further broadened access to the drug — authorizing dentists, podiatrists, mid-wives and nurse practitioners to recommend marijuana. So far, fewer than 20 of those providers have signed up to do so.

In Frederick, Kline and his team plan to offer home delivery of medical marijuana to qualified patients once it is available.

Wellness Institute of Maryland, he said, will operate more like a doctor's office than a retail store. Patients' consultations with cannabis professionals will take about an hour and they will be asked to keep an electronic diary, he said. The company doesn't plan to advertise to the public.

"Many, if not most people, won't be interested in our model," Kline said. "They would like to go in like it's a strip mall or a 7-Eleven."

Kline said his niche is to appeal to patients who might be apprehensive about taking a federally controlled substance. The firm plans to counsel each patient on what strains might be best and how to administer the lowest dose that's effective.

"For example, is it appropriate to use a vape pen? How do you do that?" Kline said.

Patients can sign up for an appointment by visiting Kline's website or calling the company. Even though the drug won't be available until September at the earliest, Kline said his firm is ready to take on "all the paperwork that's doable."

WHOOT! WHOOT!

 

[Baron23]

Hogan revamps the state’s troubled medical marijuana regulating agency

By Ovetta Wiggins July 6 at 8:38 PM
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday overhauled the state’s medical marijuana regulating agency, appointing 10 new members to the panel, which came under fire for its launch of a medical cannabis program.

The appointees to the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission include a toxicologist, a pharmacist, a county sheriff and a county state’s attorney.

Hogan filled three vacancies on the 16-member panel and replaced six members whose terms had expired, doubling the number of minority commissioners from two to four. John T. Gontrum, an assistant comptroller in the state comptroller’s office, was reappointed.

“It was time to move in a new direction,” Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said.

The commission has been criticized by state lawmakers, businesses and medical marijuana advocates for struggling to get the medical marijuana program off the ground and for potential missteps in awarding licenses to grow the drug.

Earlier this year, a legislative audit found that the commission skirted state contracting rules and may have overcharged taxpayers when it hired an outside group to review applications to open cannabis businesses.

Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore City), president of the state Legislative Black Caucus and a lead sponsor of the state’s medical marijuana legalization bill, said Thursday that the caucus “appreciates any and all efforts” to add minorities to the commission. The caucus is pushing for a special session of the General Assembly, after a bill pushed by the caucus to revamp the cannabis program failed in the final seconds of the regular session.

Glenn also said Hogan should ensure that a study on the racial disparity in the state’s medical marijuana industry, which he ordered in April, is completed as soon as possible.

The legislation would have overhauled the marijuana commission and addressed complaints that minority-owned businesses were passed over for licenses and are not in a position to profit from the nascent industry.

Filling commission vacancies are Charles P. LoDico, a toxicologist for the state Department of Health and Human Services; Barry G. Pope, the drug rebate manager and clinical pharmacist for Conduent State Healthcare; and Brian P. Lopez, a partner at Osprey Property Co.

The new commissioners are: Alvin W. Davis, a partner at Cumberland Anesthesia and Pain Management Associates; Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler; Frederick County State’s Attorney Charles Smith III; Rachel Rhodes, the horticulture associate for the University of Maryland Extension in Queen Anne’s County; Ehsan Abdeshahian, a doctor specializing in pain and sports medicine; and Scott Welsh, owner of Maryland Flower and Foliage.

The commission will have two African American members, one Hispanic member and one member of Middle Eastern descent, Mayer said.

Oh....I'm supposed to get excited about more bureaucratic maneuvering in Annapolis while there is only one cultivator with a final license and seeds in the ground and one dispensary final license....a dispensary that has nothing to sell. NO processor licenses yet issued.

And gee folks, its only taken them five years to accomplish so little. sigh

 

[Baron23]

U-Md. School of Pharmacy to provide training for medical marijuana

By Meredith Cohn July 9 at 4:57 PM
The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy will begin offering training to prepare prospective workers for the medical marijuana industry.

The move puts the Baltimore school in league with few other established universities and colleges, including the University of Vermont College of Medicine’s Department of Pharmacology, seeking to bring educational standards to a growing national industry that grapples with evolving science and uncertain legal standing.

“We wanted to be there as a resource,” said Magaly Rodriguez de Bittner, a pharmacy professor and executive director of the school’s Center for Innovative Pharmacy Solutions, which began signing up potential workers for training last month.

“If you’re going to be dispensing,” she said, “let’s make sure your staff is trained in best practices to do it safely and effectively.”

The pharmacy school will offer classes through its online platform toward certifications required under the state’s medical marijuana law for those involved in the business. It is partnering with the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access on the certification program. That organization will provide the instructors and the curriculum, which the school vetted and adjusted.

Training doesn’t mean an endorsement of using marijuana by the school, a well-regarded institution founded in 1841, Rodriguez de Bittner said. Medical marijuana is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The school had an online platform to offer the training and a mission to provide education to health-care providers, even if the science and government regulation has yet to catch up with demand, she said.

Few universities even support research into medical uses for cannabis, largely because accessing the plant is restricted by federal law that categorizes it the same as heroin and LSD. And though Maryland, 28 other states and the District have made medical marijuana legal, the Trump administration has signaled that it could increase enforcement efforts.

Some large health systems in Maryland are concerned enough to ask their doctors not to recommend the drug, including LifeBridge Health and MedStar Health. Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical System are formulating policies.

Maryland’s medical marijuana rules don’t obligate doctors to get specific training before prescribing cannabis, but like other states it does require growers, processors, dispensaries and laboratories to be “certified,” said Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.

The burden will be on businesses to ensure that there is training relevant to a person’s position, and there will be inspections, he said. The focus will be on safety, security and record keeping, but workers in each type of operation have more specific requirements.

“There are numerous training requirements for those people working in the industry,” Jameson said. “Grower agents, processor agents and dispensary agents have specific training requirements as listed in” state law, he said. “Dispensary agents have even more requirements.”

The commission doesn’t endorse a particular certification program, though the agency website for a time included a link to one but subsequently removed it.

The pharmacy school’s partnership with Americans for Safe Access gives the nonprofit advocacy group “immediate legitimacy” for its courses, said Shad Ewart, a professor at Anne Arundel Community College who teaches a course about the marijuana industry for credit but not yet industry certification.

He said the school also benefits because officials there had to do little legwork in developing a curriculum that could have taken months or years to produce on their own. (University officials said they reviewed the content and made it conform to educational norms.)

Still, Ewart understands that many colleges and universities don’t want to jeopardize federal funding for research, student loans or other programs by wading into the medical marijuana arena. He said there was a need and, in his case, demand particularly from students who wanted to launch their own businesses. He said he steers students to focus on ancillary operations such as security, marketing, accounting and retail.

“If the legislation says you must have fencing with video surveillance, well, that’s good for the fencing and video industries,” he said.

Jahan Marcu, chief science officer for Americans for Safe Access, said the group has been offering training since 2002 when there were approximately 11 dispensaries around the country. Instruction initially focused only on “survival,” which meant how to handle law enforcement.

Now that there are several thousand businesses, the training has evolved to match what’s required by states that allow medical marijuana for each type of operation, from growing and processing to retailing and laboratory testing, he said. Courses offer instruction about laws and regulations; the latest evidence on uses for medical marijuana; plant and product consistency; pesticides; sanitation; operating procedures; labeling, inventory control and record keeping; and other relevant information.

On the Maryland site, 30-hour certification courses are being offered for $450 to $750.

Marcu said his group is not the largest marijuana educator, though it’s not clear anyone is keeping track. Among others offering instruction are Cannabis Training Institute, THC University and Green Cultured. In addition to such new “universities” dedicated to medical marijuana certification, there are some medical societies and health departments offering training.

The university affiliation, Marcu hopes, will bring some accountability and possibly standards that others could adopt.

Rodriguez de Bittner said that since launch of the training site, there has been interest from potential workers in Maryland, West Virginia, California and the District.

“There is so much out there,” she said. “We’re trying to partner and provide courses based on the best evidence — as it develops.”

 

[Baron23]

Neighborhood tensions arise as residents learn of plans for medical marijuana dispensaries

John Seifert was having trouble renting out his shuttered flower shop in Baltimore County. Finally, a real estate agent found a potential tenant: a medical marijuana dispensary.

Seifert signed a five-year lease with the firm, which wants to sell cannabis tinctures, oils and other products to patients from the Nottingham property. The 69-year-old, who lives three doors away, thought the business would be a good fit.

Some neighbors disagree. They worry a dispensary could attract crime, and say it doesn’t belong near homes, or a potential school site down the road.This month, their county councilman introduced legislation that would change local zoning rules for marijuana dispensaries — potentially blocking Seifert’s tenant from opening on his property.

Councilman David Marks says he backs medical cannabis, but wants the dispensaries limited to commercial areas.

“Many people support the concept,” the Perry Hall Republican said. “They just don’t want it in their neighborhood.”

Similar conflicts are unfolding around the state, as firms that have won preliminary licenses to operate dispensaries sign leases and prepare for final inspections — and neighbors learn of their plans.

In Baltimore, residents are asking questions about a dispensary planned for Wyman Park; City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke has requested a public hearing. Officials in Queen Anne’s County set new restrictions on where facilities may be located; a dispensary company sued. Residents of Anne Arundel County have spoken out against planned dispensaries there.

This building at 3317 Keswick Road is where a marijuana dispensary is planned. (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)
Other states that have legalized the distribution of medical marijuana through dispensaries — such as Illinois, Massachusetts and Connecticut — have experienced similar friction.

Darrell Carrington, a cannabis lobbyist with Greenwill Consulting Group, blamed the opposition on fears of the unknown.

“Because it’s new, people are suspect,” Carrington said. He said dispensaries will be tightly regulated by the state, with “more security measures built into this program than you would ever imagine.”

“These are going to be really nice locations,” Carrington said. “It’s not a head shop.”



Carrington said a dispensary will resemble "a holistic doctor's office." Only patients and caregivers will be allowed to enter. The interiors will have retail sections and private consultation areas. Dispensaries will be required to secure their products in vaults.

Maryland lawmakers approved medical marijuana in 2013, but it’s taken years for the program to get off the ground. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has granted preliminary dispensary licenses to 102 operators. Only one — the Wellness Institute of Maryland in Frederick — has received final state approval to open.

The commission awarded the preliminary licenses by state Senate district. When applying for the licenses, prospective operators did not have to specify their proposed locations — indeed, most had not finalized those plans. In many cases, it’s only now, as operators prepare for final inspections ahead of a December deadline to open, that the locations of the businesses are becoming known.

Peggy Winchester is president of the South Perry Hall Boulevard Improvement Association. In Seifert’s neighborhood, she said, “the majority of the the people that I have spoken to have no problem with medical marijuana. They just don’t think it should be dispensed in the middle of a residential neighborhood.”

Among residents’ concerns, association treasurer Catherine Ward said, is that the neighborhood will become a target for criminals because the business will accept cash only (banks and credit card companies have been wary of involving themselves in an industry still not sanctioned by the federal government).



The dispensary planned for the 3300 block of Keswick Road in Wyman Park has inspired similar worries, said Jack Boyson, president of the Wyman Park Community Association. Residents also wonder whether a dispensary could reduce the value of their homes.

Boyson asked why local officials haven’t solicited public comment on where dispensaries should be located.

The association has scheduled an open meeting for residents to discuss dispensary issues with city officials on Wednesday evening at the Keswick Multi-Care Center.

Clarke, whose district includes Wyman Park, said she requested a council hearing to discuss dispensaries. Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young plans to schedule the hearing for August, a spokesman said.

Marks' bill in Baltimore County would require copies of county permit applications for dispensaries to be sent to the council member in whose district they plan to locate.

“What really upsets me [is] we have elected officials who knew nothing about it,” resident Bernadine Seymour said. “We learned it through the grapevine.”

While the state program allows two dispensaries per state senatorial district, local government officials have authority over the exact location.

There’s no map the public can consult to see where the dispensaries are to be located.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, said the state doesn’t know the addresses of the businesses until they request final inspections. Once a dispensary is licensed, he said, its address will be posted to the commission’s website.

Kate Bell, legislative counsel for the Marijuana Policy Project, said many people may have misconceptions about what a dispensary will look like. Her organization takes policymakers on tours of regulated facilities.

“When people see what it actually looks like, it really changes their mind,” she said. “If people have never seen a lawful, regulated, taxed cannabis business, they don’t have any sort of frame of reference.”

But Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-legalization organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said people have legitimate concerns about dispensaries in their neighborhoods.

“I think people see them like they do liquor stores,” Sabet said. “Having a large number of liquor stores is not usually a selling point for any community.”

Sabet said neighborhoods around the country have pushed back against dispensaries.

“What we’ve been seeing is that the politically empowered communities are able to stop pot shops from coming to their neighborhoods, while the politically disenfranchised communities have been left” to take them.

In Anne Arundel County, residents spoke out against two dispensaries — one in Annapolis and another in Edgewater. But the businesses have received zoning approval.

“Everybody is for this idea until it’s going to move into their backyard,” said Owen McEvoy, a spokesman for Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh.

Schuh proposed an outright ban on medical marijuana facilities a few years ago. But the county eventually approved rules allowing for them.

The Baltimore County Council signed off on regulations for cannabis dispensaries in 2015 that limited them to areas with business zoning.

Those rules prohibit dispensaries within 500 feet of a school. Marks’ bill would also ban dispensaries within 800 feet of Board of Education property that has been identified as a future school site.

Seifert’s property on Ridge Road is about 750 feet from land owned by the school system, said Bill Huber, a principal in LMS Wellness, the company that plans to operate there.

County schools spokeswoman Diana Spencer said no building plans have been approved for the Board of Education parcel.

Carrington, the industry lobbyist, says opponents are not being reasonable. He pointed to the addictive opioids for sale at local pharmacies.

“You have Oxycontin and Percocets at Walmart and Walgreens and Shoppers and Target,” he said.

Seifert said he didn’t know about Marks’ bill until he was informed of it by a reporter. He said dispensary owners ensured they had proper zoning for the property, which his family has owned for more than 100 years. He retired a few years ago and closed the flower shop that had operated there.

“I didn’t think [a marijuana dispensary] was a bad thing at all because of the medical benefits it would have for people,” he said. “Security’s going to be very high, I know that.”

Seifert and dispensary representatives met with some residents last week to hear their concerns.

“When you’re having any kind of community project, there has to be transparency,” said state Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, a Democrat who attended the meeting. “You have to include the people you’re going to be living with.”

At least one local zoning dispute over cannabis has led to a lawsuit. Hippocratic Growth, a dispensary, sued the Queen Anne’s County Commission this year over restrictions on where it could open. A circuit court judge ruled in the county’s favor last month; the dispensary is appealing the ruling.

In Nottingham, Huber said his group wants to address community questions going forward.

“We want to be as transparent and communicative as possible,” Huber said. “The last thing you want do is upset a community with your business.”

 

[CarolKing]

Unfortunately cannabis has a bad reputation among certain segments of the population. There's also a fear of the unknown with ignorant people.

The voters have spoken and voted for medical cannabis. It just depends how its implemented, a slow process some more so depending on the state and the decisions of the lawmakers. Look at poor Hawaii, they still don't have any dispensaries last that I checked. They voted for medical a long time ago.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland’s Highest Court Hears Medical Marijuana Case

BY BRIAN WITTE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An attorney for the state of Maryland is asking the state’s highest court to allow finalists for licenses to grow medical marijuana to intervene in a lawsuit.

Julia Bernhardt, an assistant attorney general, said Thursday the finalists have a direct economic interest in the lawsuit’s outcome. She says the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission can’t represent their interests, because the panel represents the public interest.

Alternative Medicine Maryland, an applicant that wasn’t selected, alleges in its lawsuit that the commission didn’t consider racial diversity of applicants as required. It wants to block the panel from awarding licenses until the lawsuit is resolved. Attorney Byron Warnken says companies who may benefit shouldn’t be able to intervene.

But Arnold Weiner, who is representing the finalists, says his clients’ interests aren’t adequately protected now.

oink, oink, oink

 

[Baron23]

Maryland’s highest court rules in medical marijuana case



By Brian Witte | AP July 28 at 2:10 PM
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s highest court has ruled that finalists to become licensed to grow medical marijuana in the state can defend their interests against a legal challenge over how those finalists were picked.

The Court of Appeals on Friday reversed a lower court ruling that barred the finalists from involvement in the case.

Alternative Medicine Maryland, an applicant not chosen, alleges in a lawsuit that the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission didn’t consider the racial diversity of the applicants for licenses as required.

Maryland law allows 15 medical marijuana growers. So far, the commission has only awarded one license.

Attorneys for the companies that asked the court to allow them to intervene in the lawsuit say they have invested tens of millions of dollars in their companies.

I think this is a good thing as MD, as the regulatory agency, is ill positioned to defend the commercial interests of the licensees. Hopefully, with greater opposition and resources, this suit can be defended against and defeated which would eliminate at least one are of uncertainty and help clear the path forward.

 

[Baron23]

Just in case you may have thought that Maryland finally popped their head out of their anus, we have THIS. sigh The only thing positive about this is that since it was a double blind eval, it would be difficult for any with a conflict of interest to identify and favor applicants with whom they have a favorable relationship. But, as highlighted in the article, its not impossible.

I actually spoke to a Cannabis Commission employee the other day about the fact that they don't have a schedule at all (and never have) and that they are still saying dispensaries open end of summer while it is now 31 Jul, only one grower and one dispensary license have been issued, no processor licenses have been issued, and the next meeting where licenses will be voted on will be the week of 15 Aug and I plan to attend. The response was that since so much is out of their (the MMCC) control they can't really generate any forward looking schedule which is complete and utter horseshit that you will only hear from governments. I say this as a 40 year high tech equipment, program/project manager. EVERY one of my projects had outside of my control dependencies. So what, you put a place holder in there for it, you generate estimates, publish a schedule, then make updates if/when things slip. Just like every other well managed project in the entire fucking world except for....yep, government (where if I don't make any commitments I can't be held responsible for results).


Marijuana experts scored prospective Md. pot businesses. Some had ties to them.

Several of the independent experts hired to review applications to open medical marijuana businesses in Maryland had ties to companies whose materials they reviewed, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.

The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission said it is investigating these potential conflicts of interest.

They include a woman who initially said she had “no known relationships” with individuals applying for cannabis licenses, but later reviewed an application for a company where her husband was a manager and that was affiliated with a Massachusetts marijuana retailer she had co-founded. Two leaders of a District dispensary joined Maryland’s panel of experts while their business partners sought to expand into the state; one disclosed the connection, the other did not.

The connections, which The Post discovered after a public records request, raise new questions about how the state tried to avoid conflicts in setting up a legal marijuana industry where hundreds of businesses were competing intensely for a limited number of growing, processing and selling licenses.

The medical cannabis program, which is set to begin selling to patients this fall, has encountered major stumbles since it was legalized four years ago. The state House of Delegates in March reprimanded one of its own for trying to shape medical marijuana laws and regulations without fully disclosing his affiliation to a prospective dispensary.

The state is fending off lawsuits alleging that officials failed to consider racial diversity in licensing and that they improperly chose lower-ranked cultivators to boost geographic diversity. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) overhauled the beleaguered cannabis commission this month, appointing 10 new members.

To review the applications, the commission contracted with the Regional Economic Studies Institute at Towson University. The institute was to oversee 20 industry experts as they reviewed hundreds of business applications. The arrangement was the subject of a blistering legislative audit, which found that the commission skirted state contracting rules by hiring the institute without competitive bidding and allowed costs to balloon without proper documentation.

Towson kept the names of evaluators confidential while applications were pending, citing a “double-blind” process in which prospective pot entrepreneurs would not know who was reviewing applications, and evaluators would not know whose applications they were assessing, because the names of owners and businesses were redacted.

[Battling racial roadblocks to joined legalized marijuana trade]

Marijuana advocates say the legal sales industry, a fast-growing market worth billions, is relatively small — making it hard to find people who have expertise in marijuana businesses but no connections to companies trying to expand into Maryland.

Daraius Irani, director of the institute, said his organization took multiple steps to prevent bias from tarnishing the medical marijuana review. Evaluators were given only specific portions of applications relevant to their expertise, and those materials were stripped of the names of the businesses, its employees and investors.

“RESI took every step to ensure a fair process,” Irani said.

But it was possible to figure out in some cases which companies were behind which applications using other clues. Irani said one processor evaluator, whom The Post identified as Michelle Sexton, had recused herself from an application after she realized she knew the owners of a business that made a proprietary product listed in materials.

“They had a great proposal, and I hated to recuse myself because I thought it was really well done,” Sexton, co-founder of the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy, said in an interview. “But I didn’t want somebody to come back and say, ‘Hey, you know these guys, and you scored their application really good.’ ”

Records released in June by Towson identifying all experts and their conflict-of-interest affidavits reveal that several other experts also had relationships with people submitting applications.

Julia Germaine, who evaluated processing applications for Maryland, co-founded a cannabis venture now known as Temescal Wellness in Massachusetts. She is a compliance manager there.

In September 2015, she signed an affidavit saying she had “no known relationships” to individuals seeking cannabis licenses in Maryland. Two months later, her co-founder and husband, Nial DeMena, and a director and consultant at her company, Ted Rebholz, submitted applications in Maryland under the Temescal brand.

Temescal of Maryland was one of just seven companies preliminarily approved last year for all three medical marijuana business licenses in Maryland — growing, processing and dispensing. DeMena was set to be general manager of the Maryland processing facility but told The Post he is not currently involved with the company; instead he is focused on business ventures in other states and may work in Maryland if needed.

Germaine told The Post that Temescal Wellness of Maryland was a distinct entity from the nonprofit Temescal Wellness of Massachusetts and she was not privy to its business activity.

DeMena said he wasn’t aware that his wife was an evaluator in Maryland, and Germaine said she didn’t know her husband was part of the Temescal Wellness of Maryland application.

“Did I know? Of course not,” Germaine said in a telephone interview. She did not respond to follow-up questions about when she learned of her husband’s involvement.

“You can look at my scores and evaluate the individual scores and see no irregularity,” Germaine said. “Temescal must have written a good application across the board.”

The company lists its Massachusetts and Maryland locations on its website.

In June 2016, Germaine asked the institute whether she should recuse herself from reviewing Temescal’s application after she recognized the qualifications of a security director as someone she previously worked with, according to emails she provided. But the institute told her to continue scoring.

“It is not a conflict of interest simply to know someone professionally who is working in the industry,” said Irani, the head of the institute. “However, had Julia Germaine revealed to RESI that her husband was the general manager of a company that was applying for a license, or that she was affiliated with a company that was applying for a license, she would not have been an evaluator at all.”

Robert Schulman, an attorney for Temescal Wellness of Maryland, said there was nothing improper about Germaine reviewing the application, because she was not involved with the Maryland venture and the process was double-blind. It’s unclear whether she reviewed portions of the application that described her husband’s qualifications.

“What would you gain by knowing a reviewer who doesn’t look at the growing application at all and only looks at a limited number of questions, a minute number of questions, to the whole?” said Schulman. “There’s too much to lose and nothing to gain.”

Nevertheless, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission said it was investigating this potential conflict, and Schulman said his company is cooperating with requests for information. The commission is set to award final licenses to growers and processors in August.

“The Commission takes its role concerning the integrity of the Medical Cannabis Program and a fair application process very seriously and has been closely monitoring any and all situations of non-compliance to ensure the public trust,” Patrick Jameson, the commission’s executive director, said in an email. “The Commissioners will evaluate all available background investigation information prior to their deliberative process before issuing any licenses.”

[How a Maryland lawmaker shaped and joined marijuana industry]

One application reviewer warned the institute about ties to prospective marijuana entrepreneurs in Maryland before the evaluation process.

Grower evaluator Vanessa West, general manager of the Metropolitan Wellness Center dispensary in the District, disclosed that her dispensary shared an investor with District Growers, a D.C. marijuana grower that planned to seek a cultivation license in Maryland.

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But Mike Cuthriell, who is president of Metropolitan Wellness, signed up to evaluate processor applications and did not disclose the connection on his conflict-of-interest affidavit. Cuthriell said he could not figure out which companies were behind which applications from the materials he saw.

District Growers owner Corey Barnette, a part owner of Metropolitan Wellness Center and the shared investor mentioned in West’s disclosure, was turned down for the cultivation and processing licenses he applied for under the name Freestate Growers with other Metropolitan Wellness Center staff. Barnette told The Post that he knew West and Cuthriell were recruited as evaluators and that he encouraged them to disclose their connections to him if they took the position, but he said he didn’t know they served as evaluators.

Irani said West properly disclosed her conflict but was given Freestate Growers’ application anyway because the connection to District Growers wasn’t clear to the institute. He said her scoring was in line with how she graded other applications and that it wasn’t necessarily improper for her and Cuthriell to review Freestate applications because of other safeguards to minimize bias.

Kate Bell, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project, said she was troubled by the connections between evaluators and applicants. But she also said she did not want the discovery of the issue to cause further delays in medical cannabis becoming available to patients.The program’s launch has been one of the slowest in the nation.

“It illustrates the fact that when you have government granting a limited number of licenses, there needs to be full transparency with the public,” said Bell. “Setting up this system, there was no transparency.”

Full list of medical marijuana evaluators

Towson University in 2016 denied a request by The Washington Post for the names of evaluators reviewing companies trying to get into Maryland’s medical marijuana industry while the application scoring was underway, saying it would break the double-blind nature of the process.

With the review now complete, the university disclosed for the first time the list of people who had the most significant sway in deciding which companies landed coveted licenses to grow, process and sell medical marijuana.

Growers
Ibere Calvo, Sustainable Strategies, Environmental Consulting LLC
Kerrie B. Badertscher, Otoke Horticulture LLC
Ron Prowell
Seth Bock
Vanessa West

Dispensaries
Aseem Sappal
Christopher Sands. Green Script
ICF Resources LLC
Scott Churchill
Wanda James
Erick Eschker

Processors
Michelle Sexton, Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy
Eric Belgau
Uma Dhanabalan, Global Health & Hygiene Solutions LLC
Julia Germaine
Michael Cuthriell
Michael Geci
Scott and Sloan Inc.
Seth Bock

 

[Baron23]

Top lawmakers back expanding medical marijuana industry

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Two top Maryland lawmakers say they support expanding the state’s medical marijuana industry next year to increase participation by minority-owned businesses.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch wrote in a July letter that they support passage of “emergency legislation” in the legislative session that begins in January.

Currently, 15 growers are allowed, and but none is a black-led company. A bill designed to bolster diversity ownership failed to pass in the closing moments of this year’s legislative session.

Miller and Busch noted they would not be calling for a special session to pass legislation this year, as some leaders of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland have urged them to do. They also say a disparity study initiated by Governor Hogan will inform policy steps.

They will say anything but the unvarnished truth which is that this is a race based (as in racist) give away to the Maryland Black Legislative Caucus as a political consideration. Note, other minorities aren't really welcomed....no set asides for Mongolians, Hmong, Nicaraguans, Zoroasters, whirling Dervishes, or anybody body else.

I personally am not on fire about this....because they have refused Glenn's outrageous demands to stop and restart the entire program. However, existing winners have a definite gripe as they based their business plans on a given number of growers/processors/dispensaries and an anticipated population of MMJ patients. Increasing the number of growers, for example, will change those calculations. But, competition is good, the efficient will thrive, those that are not will fall by the wayside.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland Legislators Reject Call for Special Session to Debate Medical Marijuana

The Legislative Black Caucus hoped to debate racial equality in Maryland's MMJ industry this summer.

The leaders of the Maryland General Assembly have officially rejected a request from the Legislative Black Caucus to convene a special summer session to debate racial equality in the medical marijuana industry. The caucus has been pressuring lawmakers to reconsider the regulations of the state's nascent MMJ industry ever since the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission failed to grant any of the 15 allotted cannabis licenses to minority business owners.

In lieu of the requested summer session, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch said they would give their “full support for passage of emergency legislation” to expand the MMJ industry when the next legislative session begins in January of 2018. Miller had been open to a special session, but Busch just received a liver transplant, and is still recovering from the surgery at home.

Baltimore Del. Cheryl D. Glenn, chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said that she was “sensitive to the health issues of the speaker,” but was “disappointed and frustrated” that the special session will not take place. “The next step will be to make sure we have the legislation drafted and agreed upon by all the major entities,” she said. The governor, the speaker, the Senate president, and the black caucus will all need to agree on the legislation for it to move forward.

Glenn said she was concerned that the delays in the process would prevent African-American businesses from receiving cannabis licenses until 2019 at the earliest, which would put them at a competitive disadvantage to businesses that have already been granted licenses and are starting up their operations.

“African-Americans will be behind the eight-ball once again,” Glenn said.

Glenn is completely full of shit and fuck her and the horse she came in on. She is still calling for the entire program to be restarted (that gets you a big FUCK YOU, GLENN) in order to get race based set asides for her particular constituency, black Americans (and she ain't interested in no set asides for Nepalese people, yeah?).

Below is the current statistics on minority (NOT black Americans...but minorities) of the current license winners. Read and and weep, Glenn.

The reason they will not hold a special session is not because of Busch's healthy, its because they will get slaughtered over any more delay to this program which has been five fucking years in the making and now we are perhaps 4-5 months away from product in dispensaries. So again, FUCK YOU, GLENN, AND YOUR RACIST POLICIES.

Now, as to “African-Americans will be behind the eight-ball once again”, aside from the demographic of the existing licensees, if Glenn would like to see more black American representation (which would be nice, yeah), then perhaps she can marshall resources to help black applicants write a winning proposal.

Ok, existing demographic info on MD license winners:

AND NOW THE TOTAL VIEW, please pay attention to the specific numbers by race/ethnicity/gender

I fucking hate politicians and the mendacious and venal lies they tell whenever their lips are flapping.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland probes potential conflicts in grading medical marijuana applications

By Fenit Nirappil August 4 at 6:00 AM
Maryland medical marijuana regulators are asking companies that have received preliminary licenses to grow and process the drug whether they had personal or business connections to the independent experts who graded their applications.

The inquiry follows a report in The Washington Post this week that revealed several ties between evaluators and businesses.

With a few exceptions, state cannabis regulators chose businesses to enter the potentially lucrative legal marijuana industry based on how they were scored by 20 experts hired by the Regional Economic Studies Institute (RESI) at Towson University.

The connections between some applicants and some of those experts raise new questions about how the state tried to avoid conflicts in setting up a legal marijuana industry where hundreds of businesses were competing intensely for a limited number of growing, processing and selling licenses.

[Lawmaker asks for special session on marijuana after Post report]

The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission sent emails to businesses this week asking them to disclose any relevant relationships, according to representatives of multiple recipients of the emails. The representatives, who described the emails to The Post, asked not to be identified because the commission had marked the communication confidential.

“Specifically, the commission is requesting each applicant to certify that none of its agents, including owners, investors and employees, has any relationship with one of the Subject Matter Experts retained by RESI that could be viewed as a conflict of interest,” the email read.

“If any individual in your organization had any affiliation or relationship with any of the Subject Matter Experts, please describe in detail the name of the individuals, the nature of the relationship and the earliest dates on which that relationship existed.”

The email did not specify what the commission planned to do if it learned that specific companies had connections to application reviewers.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of the commission, declined to comment on the messages. He said last week that his agency was investigating potential conflicts of interest.

The Post reported that the person listed as general manager of Temescal Wellness’ processing facility is married to a woman hired to evaluate applications from prospective processing businesses. The married couple told The Post that they were unfamiliar with each other’s positions.

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An attorney for Temescal Wellness, which received preliminary licenses to grow, process and sell the drug, said last week that the company did nothing wrong and was cooperating with the commission’s request for information.

The commission is scheduled to consider final approval for medical marijuana growers and processors this month, contingent on them passing final background checks and inspections.

Legalized in 2013, Maryland’s medical marijuana program has been bogged down in assorted controversies and lawsuits. The drug is supposed to become available to consumers as early as the fall.

This is more of a never ending story than Game of Thrones (which...you do know....has no ending at all, no dramatic climax, or and absolutely no resolution ....I'll never give that fuck, Martin the Rip Off Artist, another nickel for one of his books.....ever...just saying LOL)

 

[Baron23]

As I previously posted, MD has managed....in almost 5 years...to so far issue only one final cultivator license (out of 15 allowed) and one final dispensary license (out of 102 allowed) and no processor licenses (out of 15 allowed).

The next meeting of the MMCC to vote on the rest of the licenses is this coming Monday and I will be in attendance (its about an hour and a half a way....but I know a joint for a good lunch up there LOL)

I did, however, get contacted by our first licensed dispensary in response to my interest in their pre-order program. So, I supposed to wrap their application up firmly in the "MEDICAL" flag, all new patients (at the present) must have a conversation with their in-house pharmacist (free consultation) which I have set up for week after next.

At the time I submit a bunch of forms to them (sigh), I need to also give them $20 in cash to get me on their pre-order list and it will be credited against my first purchase once stock arrives. Not too bad of a deal, IMO.

Now, our MD regulations have a statement in there:

Please note: Once medical cannabis becomes available in the State of Maryland, a certification that is not used to purchase medical cannabis within 120 days of issuance becomes null and void.
​

At one time it merely said 120 days and nothing about once cannabis becomes available. I pointed this out to them...in my own gentle amiable way (fuck wits that they are) and they changed it. But, available where? First dispensary? Available in your state district? What?

If they cancel your cert, its back to the Dr with mo' money to get a renewed cert.

I personally want out from under this stupid, unclear, ambiguous regulation language so I signed up for for the pre-order (I can spring for $20 after all the money spent on black market product of varying quality over the decades past).

In speaking with them, I brought up the point that only one grower has seeds in the ground and this 120 day stuff and asked them when they thought that they would have product to sell. To me, with growing, drying, curing, packaging, and deliver...I'm thinking end of Oct. They said that they talked with Forward Gro who says that they will have product between the end of Aug and the end of Sept.

Maybe...we will see. Also, I don't expect particularly great product at first nor a wide selection. I just want to use my MMJ card asap and get out from under the 120 day clock.

So, almost there....almost.

 

[Baron23]

Ok, so this article is not really terribly accurate. I personally attended the Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission meeting today (drove 80 miles just to hear it) so I could get some decent first hand info. Right from the start, the Exec Director read from the controlling law text to the effect that the Commission "may" decide to pull prelim licenses from applicants who were not fully ready by today (today being one year from prelim license issuance). There was a great deal of emphasis placed by the Commission on the "may" part and they indicated clearly that this was NOT a requirement. Further, they went on to describe the supporting data that they have requested, including a plan to completion, by those applicants that were not ready to be voted on today. Clearly every one but that race baiting ass-hat, Cheryl Glenn, sees a small delay as FAR preferable to her demands to scrap the program and start over (I really have no words to describe my contempt for Ms Glenn's position on this). So, give them a little more time...particularly with things like zoning which differs across jurisdictions within Maryland and over which applicants have little control.

Following this, they did indeed vote to provide final licenses to more growers and some processors. I think we may be up to 7 or 8 cultivators who have final licenses now and can put seeds in the ground.

More state facility inspections (which also delayed a number of applicants) are on-going and the commission meets again on 28 Aug to vote to approve more.

I might have a chance to legally buy MJ in Maryland in late Sep (from the one grower) but certainly by the end of the year.


Ready or Not, Maryland Marijuana Firms Face Big Deadline

Maryland’s beleaguered medical marijuana industry faces a critical deadline Monday, when companies the state has selected to grow the plant are required to be operational. Those that are not ready risk losing their lucrative licenses.

Already, marijuana regulators are under pressure from powerful state lawmakers to leave companies that can’t meet the deadline behind.

“The whole purpose of this whole entire thing is that we have enough growers out there to provide medicine for patients,” said Sen. Thomas V. Mac Middleton, the Southern Maryland Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee.

Monday is the finish line of a 365-day race for the 15 companies picked last August to grow marijuana.

Only one is operational.

Based on interviews with companies, lobbyists, officials and industry experts, it appears that only about half of the remaining firms will be ready in time.

Middleton and Sen. Joan Carter Conway, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, urged marijuana regulators this month urging them to “take every reasonable measure to ensure” companies are ready on time, and to “promptly” replace those that are not with new companies.

The frenzy to get final inspections and approval is so harried that Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Executive Director Patrick Jameson said Friday he was unable to say how many firms might need an extension.

Jameson said his inspectors would be in the field doing final checks up until the deadline arrives — and beyond it.

One of those inspectors was scheduled to visit Jake Van Wingerden’s SunMed Growers in Cecil County on Monday to look over Van Wingerden’s just-completed greenhouse at the same regulators meet to award his competitors final licenses.

Wingerden said his company asked for final inspection more than a week ago, but the schedule of inspectors was too tight to fit them in before Monday. He said he still has to paint, put in grass and dress up the flowerbeds.

The last year has “definitely been a roller coaster,” Van Wingerden.

“We were elated that we were [selected], and then it felt like the arrows started coming our way,” he said. “It feels like we've been fighting for our survival.”

The future of the industry has been uncertain as both the General Assembly and the courts have taken a close look at whether it should move forward.

As recently as Friday, a judge was weighing whether to shut down final licensing as he considered whether the process by which the commission picked winners was unconstitutional.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams on Friday denied an emergency request to put licensing on hold, but warned lawyers for the state and for growers that the court has authority to invalidate any licenses if it determined they were awarded improperly.

The case was one of two brought by firms that did not win licenses and now are challenging the selection process in courts. Leading advocates for medical marijuana have called for a whole new process — and a whole new commission that would be more accountable.

“I don't think that commission should be able to make any more decisions,” said Del. Cheryl Glenn, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the influential Legislative Black Caucus.

She said commissioners should not issue any more licenses.

Lawyers representing about half the growers said their clients have invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in trying to get up and running.

Curio Wellness CEO Michael Bronfein raised $30 million to build a futuristic indoor growing operation in Lutherville-Timonium. Bronfein said his company passed inspection 11 weeks ago, is fully staffed and has been waiting for the commission’s final approval since June.

“I sent my whole company bowling on Monday,” Bronfein said. “There’s nothing left to do.”

The commission considered granting Curio a final license on July 5, but tabled the matter for reasons members would not describe publicly and Bronfein said regulators had never been raised before.

The next day, Gov. Larry Hogan put nine new commissioners on the 16-member panel. He reappointed one person.The remaining six members have unexpired terms.

Hogan also named a new chairman, Brian Lopez. Monday’s meeting to give out final licenses is to be the first time the newly constituted committee meets publicly.

Maryland legalized medical marijuana in 2103, but the launch of the industry has been beset by delays and controversy.

Just one of the 15 firms picked last year has been permitted to start growing. Gail Rand, chief financial officer of ForwardGro in Anne Arundel County, said Friday that plants are growing but the company does not have a date when it expects marijuana to be available for sale to dispensaries.

George P. Merling is trying to open a dispensary in Cumberland. He said licensing more firms to grow marijuana is crucial.

“No one has any product,” he said.

Van Wingerden, who is president of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, said some of the organization’s members requested final inspection a month ago, but received it only last week.

Five growing companies told The Baltimore Sun they’ve been inspected and are ready for final approval when the cannabis commission meets Monday afternoon. Some, including Curio in Baltimore County, Holistic in Prince George’s County and Harvest of Maryland in Washington County, said they are ready to start growing Monday afternoon. Green Leaf Medical and HMS Health, both in Frederick County, say they can have plants growing soon. Other companies declined to comment. Still others did not respond.

Officials at MaryMed said their Dorchester facility is ready to be inspected, even though the cannabis commission has denied their license over he conduct of former executives in other states. That denial is on administrative appeal.

Middleton, whose committee oversees medical marijuana regulation, said he hopes regulators will cut a break to firms “within striking distance” of being ready. But he said lawmakers will watch closely to make sure the commission moves on quickly if companies are not.

The cannabis commission invited applicants last week to explain why they needed more time, in case regulators decide to grant extensions.

Jameson said he did not expect the commission to tell firms that did not meet the deadline Monday that they have lost out on the industry on Monday, nor to make an announcement that the commission was moving on just yet.

Companies that are next in line to launch a growing operation have been waiting for Monday’s deadline for a year.

Maryland Cultivation and Processing, led by CEO Edward Weidenfeld, ranked No. 16 last year.

Asked whether his company was watching the Monday deadline, he replied: “Do bears live in the woods?”

 

[Baron23]

Maryland’s long-delayed medical marijuana program gets 8 new growers

By Fenit Nirappil August 14 at 5:05 PM
Medical marijuana regulators in Maryland on Monday authorized eight companies to grow the plant and four businesses to process it into medicine.

The decision at a meeting of the state’s medical cannabis commission comes one year after the panel chose 15 growers and 15 processors from a large pool of applicants. The winners in that preliminary round were given one year to pass inspections, background checks and financial vetting to get final licenses to start operating. The companies approved Monday have all gone successfully through the vetting process.

In May, the commission gave final approval to Maryland’s first legal marijuana grower, ForwardGro of Anne Arundel County, and suspended another firm, MaryMed, amid questions over legal troubles embroiling its parent company.

[Maryland just got its first licensed grower of medical marijuana]

The remaining cultivation and processing companies preapproved last year have until Aug. 28 to obtain licenses.

Patrick Jameson, the commission’s executive director, says his agency continues to conduct inspections and might grant extensions if companies run into delays beyond their control, such as problems obtaining local approval.

Maryland’s medical marijuana program has been mired in controversy and litigation over the way companies were selected to launch the potentially lucrative industry.


If the commission denies licenses to any preapproved growers or processors, that will create opportunities for other businesses to enter the market.

State marijuana regulators also launched a probe of potential conflicts between companies and experts hired by the state to grade their applications, after a report in The Washington Post that revealed connections.

[Maryland House reprimands Democrat over medical marijuana business ties]

In one instance, Temescal Wellness’s successful processor application was evaluated by the wife of the listed general manager.

Temescal received a cultivation license on Monday but not a processor license. A representative of Temescal at the commission meeting declined to comment, but a lawyer for the firm previously said it was cooperating with the commission’s request for information. Jameson, the commission executive director, says the company remains under investigation.

 

[Baron23]

Good article from the Baltimore Sun on yesterday's meeting. I'm surprised that some cultivators think they will need a few more weeks to get seeds in the ground as they should have been in the starting blocks, ready to go. One of the big issues is that growers have a huge amount of money invested in facilities, permitting, architecture and engineering, license fees, legal fees, and on and on. These businesses need to generate cash flow NOW and that's what drives the urgency here.

Maryland regulators approve eight new medical marijuana growers

Erin CoxContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun

Maryland’s medical marijuana regulators approved final licenses for eight growing companies on Monday, allowing them to start cultivating the drug.

Several companies said they are ready to begin growing immediately, while others say they will take weeks to get started.

“Now, we have a real industry,” said Cary Millstein, CEO of newly licensed grower Freestate Wellness in Howard County.

Until Monday, just one of the 15 selected firms had received final permission to start cultivating medical marijuana, which was first legalized in the state in 2013. Even at full capacity, one firm could not produce nearly enough to support 102 planned dispensaries.

Marijuana industry research group New Frontier estimates Maryland’s market will be worth $221 million annually by 2021.

Millstein whooped as the commission approved his license, the first of several outbursts punctuating an otherwise staid government meeting in Harford County. Members of Temescal Wellness of Maryland’s team fist-bumped — one man danced in his seat and started rapidly texting champagne bottle emojis — as the company’s license to start growing in Baltimore was approved.

Some firms raced to meet Monday’s deadline to become operational.

Curio Wellness of Baltimore County, which also received its license Monday, has been waiting for more than two months for final approval to bring plants into its nine high-tech, climate-controlled growing chambers in a 56,000-square-foot Timonium warehouse.

“As with any start up industry, you’re bound to have bumps in the road,” Curio CEO Michael Bronfein said in a recent interview.

The last-minute approvals follow the rocky start to an industry that has been beset by lawsuits, controversy and delays.

State courts are reviewing two cases that allege Maryland regulators improperly picked which companies could grow the drug, and state lawmakers have weighed issuing more licenses to make sure some go to firms owned by African-Americans, who don’t own any of the 15 firms selected for preliminary growing licenses.

Del. Cheryl Glenn, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the General Assembly’s Legislative Black Caucus, has called for the commission to stop issuing licenses.



Meanwhile, patients have been waiting. As of Monday, 12,000 people had signed up to become eligible for medical marijuana and 400 medical providers had signed up to recommend it to them.

Brian Lopez, the newly appointed chairman of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, said there was still a lot work to be done to bring online the remaining growers and all of the marijuana processors and dispensaries hoping to open across the state. Only one dispensary, in Frederick, is licensed. More than 100 others are pending.

Monday was the deadline for growing companies to be operational, or risk losing their licenses. Nine companies are now permitted to grow medical marijuana. Another two underwent final inspections on Monday. The future of the remaining four is not clear.



The commission’s executive director Patrick Jameson said the panel will weigh whether to grant extensions to those companies on Aug. 28.

Jameson said he thought having trouble with local zoning laws was a valid reason to seek an extension, but failing to raise capital or otherwise execute a business plan was not.

The commission also approved the state’s first marijuana processors Monday, granting final licenses to four firms, three of which will also grow the drug.




Taking a tour of ForwardGro, one of the 15 pre-approved medical marijuana growers in the state. (Kim Hairston / Baltimore Sun)

The eight growers approved Monday join Anne Arundel County-based ForwardGro — the first company to receive a final license — and they represent a wide array of approaches to capitalize on the market.

Some plan to exclusively be wholesalers. Others have launched operations to grow and then process the drug. Others plan to open dispensaries that will sell specially branded products grown and processed in house.

In addition to Freestate Wellness and Temescal, the commission granted final growing licenses to Harvest of Maryland in Washington County, as well as to Green Leaf Medical and HMS Health, which are both in Fredrick County. Grower and processor licenses went to Curio Wellness in Timonium, Holistic in Prince George’s County and Carroll County’s Grassroots of Maryland, a company that has done business as Maryland Compassionate Care and Wellness. Blair Wellness of Worcester County also won a final license to process medical marijuana.

Jameson, the commission’s executive director, said Grow West LLC and SunMed Growers received a final inspection from the state on Monday.