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Law Maryland MMJ

Well, you need to expect a bit of NIMBY and that's what we are getting. I think the Balto Co zoning restrictions (500' from school, 2,500' from another dispensary) aren't unreasonable, IMO.

Baltimore readies for 11 medical marijuana businesses to open
As Baltimore prepares for the opening of 11 medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, some residents say it’s been difficult to get information about where they’re opening or how the sites were selected.

The Baltimore City Council plans to hold a hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday to get details about “the launching of upcoming medicinal marijuana dispensaries, their impact on local zoning and enforcement, and their impact on community master plans in Baltimore City.”

City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said she called for the hearing after members of her district expressed concerns about a dispensary scheduled to open in the 3300 block of Keswick Road in Wyman Park.

“Basically they’re concerned about reports and academic studies that indicate that in other locations throughout the nation crime increases in surrounding neighborhoods to these locations,” Clarke said of residents of her district. “This backs up to a residential neighborhood. Yes, it’s zoned commercial but there should be a process for community input for the location of these dispensaries.”

While the Baltimore County Council has set zoning rules that will govern where medical marijuana businesses can open, Baltimore City officials have chosen to simply treat the marijuana facilities like pharmacies under the zoning code — and not pass special legislation for them. That means that a medical marijuana facility approved by the state doesn’t need to get zoning approval from the city to open.

“My main concern is the lack of transparency,” said Jack Boyson, president of the Wyman Park Community Association. “It appears some neighborhoods are going to be very surprised to find out they have medical marijuana dispensaries in their neighborhoods because it’s not being announced. There have been no hearings. There has been no input. There is no zoning criteria in place in terms of how far away they should be from residential areas, child care centers, parks, churches and schools.”

Alan Staple, owner of the proposed dispensary in Wyman Park, said he’s met with Clarke and the local residents. He said he’s working on a memorandum of understanding to address their concerns.

“Although medical cannabis has been approved in many states, it’s new to Maryland and naturally people have many questions and some misconceptions,” he said in an email. “Dispensaries will be serving patients in need, who have been approved by their physicians, much like a pharmacy. There’s no reason to stigmatize patients that need medical cannabis. They are not criminals.”



Mayor Catherine Pugh said she wants to make sure that patients have access to medical marijuana if a doctor prescribes it. But she said she also wants to be mindful of community concerns and not place the dispensaries in residential areas.

“I think they have questions that deserve answers,” Pugh said of the residents. “I don’t want to see them backed up against communities and neighborhoods.”

The mayor said the dispensaries should be located in commercial areas “equitably distributed” throughout Baltimore.

“There are people in desperate need of this treatment,” she said. “I would not want people denied that kind of treatment.”

Maryland lawmakers approved medical marijuana in 2013, but it has 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. In many cases, the locations are just becoming known as operators prepare for final inspections ahead of a December deadline to open.

“There’s no criteria about density,” said Boyson, noting that two or possibly three facilities are being planned near his neighborhood.

In Baltimore, 11 medical marijuana dispensaries have been pre-approved by the state in the city’s six legislative districts.

They are:

* Chesapeake Integrated Health Institute LLC and WadeWomen LLC-Dr. Dot’s in West Baltimore’s District 40.

* H&G Maryland LLC in Northwest Baltimore’s District 41.

* Blair Wellness Center and Medical Products and Services Inc. in North Baltimore’s District 43.

* Charm City Relief Partners LLC in Southwest Baltimore’s District 44.

* CannaMD LLC and Hallaway LLC in East Baltimore’s District 45.

* GreenLabs Inc., Pure Life Medical Inc. and Doctor’s Order Maryland in South Baltimore’s District 46.

Baltimore also has one licensed grower and pre-approved processor, Temescal Wellness LLC.

Baltimore County lawmakers moved in 2015 to place restrictions on where the centers can open. Medical marijuana dispensaries there must be 500 feet away from schools and 2,500 feet from another dispensary, according to legislation passed by the County Council.

Lester Davis, a spokesman for Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young, said city officials are following existing law in how they are implementing the medical marijuana program.

He noted that the dispensaries are approved by the state, not the city. Davis said Wednesday’s hearing will allow Baltimore residents to ask questions and get answers.

“All the laws have been followed,” Davis said. “The hearing on the 30th will be helpful for giving folks a venue to get information and letting them ask questions. It’s always a good thing for there to be more information in a public setting.”
 
After years of delay, Maryland medical cannabis dispensary hopes to open soon


By The Associated Press

CUMBERLAND, Md. — The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary in Cumberland says he hopes to open for business in November.

The Cumberland Times-News reports that one of three owners of the Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary recently gave the newspaper an update on his business.

Sajal Roy says the dispensary has faced delays due to a lack of approved marijuana growers with available product. He also says he found he needed additional upgrades at the dispensary facility.

Related stories
He says he intends to ask the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission to inspect his business in mid-September. He also says the dispensary has been working with a grower in Frederick. He says Green Leaf Medical has assured him that product will be available as soon as November.
 
And I was there to see it, folks. Mtg was only about an hour away.

Maryland medical pot companies that missed licensing deadline get a reprieve

By Fenit Nirappil August 28 at 4:38 PM
Maryland medical cannabis regulators gave final approvals Monday to three more cultivation centers and two processing companies, and announced that they would give 10 other companies that missed a key deadline additional time to complete their licensing requirements.

The businesses were supposed to have finished inspections and final background checks within a year of receiving preliminary approval from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission last August.

Other businesses that applied for licenses but were denied, and state lawmakers allied with them, are monitoring the final-approval process closely, hoping that companies that missed the deadline will be rejected and that their own companies will get another chance to break into the potentially lucrative legal marijuana industry.

Commissioner Charles Smith III, who is the state’s attorney for Frederick County, said regulators decided against rescinding preliminary approval for the two growers and eight processors that missed the deadline, and will monitor their progress in the coming weeks.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of the commission, said, “They’ll look at it on a case-by-case basis.”

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Brian Lopez, left, chairman of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, with Executive Director Patrick Jameson at a commission meeting on Aug. 14 in Belair, Md. (Photo by Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)
[Maryland House reprimands member for marijuana business ties]

Maryland’s medical marijuana program, legalized in 2013, has so far licensed a dozen growers, six processors and a single dispensary, in Frederick County. Retail outlets have until December to pass final vetting and inspections.

One company that received preliminary approval, MaryMed, was ultimately denied a cultivation and processing license amid questions over a federal probe of its out-of-state affiliates. The company is appealing that decision.

The commission is the target of several lawsuits alleging that the process of choosing companies was unfair. In addition, various state lawmakers have called for additional licenses to be awarded or for an overhaul of the program. Those critics include the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, which objects to the dearth of black-owned businesses in the medical cannabis industry.

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The commission has also been probing potential conflicts between some of the companies and the independent experts hired by the state to review their applications.

One such company had its application for a processing license reviewed by a team that included the wife of one of its executives, The Washington Post reported last month. That company is among the eight prospective processors that have been granted extra time to complete the final requirements.

Marijuana regulators on Monday also discussed expanding the number of processor licenses, which — unlike the number of growers — is not capped by law.

Darrell Carrington, a lobbyist for several prospective companies, said a bigger pool of processors would mean a broader range of medical marijuana products available on the market and, potentially, more minority- and female-owned companies.

But Jake Van Wingerden, who chairs an association of pre-licensed growers and processors, said those first companies “made assumptions and business decisions based on the original award numbers, and we believe it is premature to add any additional licenses at this time before the market is even up and running.”
 

Cannabis panel unaware of federal investigation of licensee


ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The commission regulating medical marijuana in Maryland says it was unaware that it awarded a dispensary license to a man under federal investigation for workplace discrimination.

The Capital Gazette reports that Advanced Alternative Therapies owner David Podrog didn’t disclose on his initial application to the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission that he was under investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission beginning in 2014. The EEOC filed a complaint Monday saying Podrog discriminated against employees at his former car wash based on national origin.

He hasn’t commented on the allegations.

The commission’s director of administration, Mary-jo Mather, says Podrog’s application will be reviewed. She says a criminal background check was run and Podrog wasn’t required to disclose his previous business was under federal investigation if he was the sole owner.
 
I can almost smell it from here! LOL

Maryland’s medical marijuana is finally growing

By Fenit Nirappil and Aaron Gregg September 2 at 4:48 PM
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Chief executive Philip Goldberg shows one of the “flower” rooms, where marijuana plants will grow, during a tour of Green Leaf Medical in Frederick, Md. The room is lit by 1,000-watt Solis Tek bulbs to simulate sunlight. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
At long last, Maryland’s first legal marijuana crop is growing.

With 19 companies cleared to grow, process and sell the plant, the seeds of the medical marijuana program have literally been planted, four years after the state legalized cannabis for medical use.

In coming months, plants will flower in heavily secured facilities, and be harvested and taken to an independent laboratory for quality testing, with some processed into oils, creams and capsules. They’ll end up available for purchase on dispensary shelves around the start of the new year, according to industry officials.

“This program is launched now,” said Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. “We have growers, processors and a dispensary, and we have a lab. The market will determine how this moves forward.”

So far, only one dispensary — or medical pot store — has been licensed in Maryland, which because of bureaucratic missteps and legal disputes has been slower to launch its program than most of the other 27 states where medical cannabis is permitted. About 100 prospective dispensaries have received preliminary licenses and have until December to get set up, pass employee background checks and undergo final inspections.

[Some experts hired to grade Md. marijuana businesses had ties to them]

Jennifer Porcari is cautiously optimistic that she’ll soon get cannabis oil or a patch to ease her 10-year-old daughter’s epilepsy. Parents of children with epilepsy have long seen medical marijuana as a way to reduce seizures and improve quality of life; some have even moved to Colorado and other states so they can legally obtain the drug.

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Jennifer Porcari, pictured in her Cheverly, Md., home in 2016, has immersed herself in information about nontraditional medication including marijuana to help treat her daughter’s epilepsy. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)
But Porcari, who has spent years lobbying for legalization, said she won’t celebrate until she has the cannabis in her hands.

[How to get medical marijuana in Maryland, and other FAQs]

“When we are able to go to a dispensary anywhere and pick it up, we are all ready for it,” the Cheverly resident said. “They have spent so much time on it, it’s going to be a great system. We just need it to go, go, go.”

Nearly 13,000 patients have signed up to be able to purchase marijuana, and 428 health-care providers have registered to certify the patients’ need for the drug, according to the commission. But hurdles remain.

Darrell Carrington, a lobbyist for marijuana companies, said some dispensaries are struggling to find landlords willing to lease to a type of business that is still considered illegal under federal law.

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Razor and barbed wire secure the perimeter of Green Leaf Medical in Frederick, Md. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
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Armed security guards protect Green Leaf Medical in Frederick, Md. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
And while cultivation and processing centers are generally in more secluded areas, dispensaries are in neighborhoods where they are more likely to face “not in my back yard” resistance — opposition that marijuana businesses and advocates say is misplaced.

“We are talking about places that are going to have less dangerous and toxic things than CVS and Walgreens,” Carrington said. “These are not like coffee shops in Amsterdam where people can go in and hang out for hours. They purchase their medicine and they go.”

[Missing from Maryland’s legal pot growers? Black business leaders]

Carrington described the sole dispensary that has been fully licensed by the state so far — Wellness Institute of Maryland, in Frederick County — as an “upscale” doctor’s office. It will offer mobile delivery service in high-demand neighborhoods for patients too sick to leave their homes.

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Josh Genderson, a District medical marijuana grower pictured in his D.C. facility, is among the dozen licensed growers set to operate in Maryland. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
But it and other cannabis companies still operate with a hint of intrigue. Wellness Institute’s owner, for example, asked not to have his full name published in this article for fear of drawing unwelcome attention. He said the dispensary will screen out patients who seem to be gaming the system to get high instead of treating illnesses.

At least two of the dozen cultivators that Maryland has licensed currently have marijuana plants growing: ForwardGro, of Anne Arundel County, and Curio Wellness, of Baltimore County.

ForwardGro has been sharing photos of its plants on social media, but executives there declined to say when the company would be ready to sell product to dispensaries.


Curio Wellness, which says its primary focus is research and development, also has marijuana growing.

Chief executive Michael Bronfein said his goal is to have high-quality products that include tinctures — alcohol-based cannabis extracts — and vaporizing pens on the market by mid-December, ahead of any would-be competitors. He’s awaiting approval to open a dispensary that would not only have shelves stocked with cannabis products, but would also have acupuncture rooms and massage therapy rooms.

[Maryland House reprimands lawmaker for marijuana business ties]

“It’ll look more like a day spa, very high-end in terms of physical attraction, with a very heavy emphasis on patient education, physician education and product selection,” Bronfein said.

In Frederick County, black privacy shrouds cover a barbed-wire fence surrounding the Green Leaf Medical center. Armed guards escort visitors into a hallway where a sign reminds employees, who must be drug-tested, “No drugs at work.”

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Employee notices are seen on a wall during a tour of Green Leaf Medical in Frederick, Md. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Except, of course, for the marijuana plants that soon will be growing by the hundreds in flower rooms just down the hall. They’ll develop in molten-rock cubes (instead of bug-friendly soil), on top of rows of gray benches connected to an irrigation system that delivers water and nutrients.

Chief executive Philip Goldberg wore sunglasses Friday as he walked into the “flower” room, which blazed with golden light emanating from about 100 lightbulbs of 1,000 watts each. He expects to have an annual power bill of about $500,000.

[Meet the big donors, ex-cops and clergy who want to grow Maryland’s pot]

Local Headlines newsletter

Daily headlines about the Washington region.



“We have a pharmaceutical-grade facility here, but this plant can grow outside in a ditch. It’s like a weed,” said Goldberg, who decided in 2014 to try to enter the legal cannabis industry. “What we are doing in here is making sure it grows in the fastest, safest and most efficient way possible.”

He said he started his last major company, creating websites and software for businesses, with $2,000 in seed money. He was drawing customers within two months, he said.

For this latest venture, he said, his company has raised $8.7 million in investment so far. And the business has not brought him a single dime of revenue.

Goldberg estimated that he’ll start by producing 320 pounds of marijuana a month. He has signed sales deals with 23 dispensaries.

“We knew it was going to take time. Did we think it was going to take four years? No,” Goldberg said. “But it feels really good to finally be able to put seeds in the ground and start growing.”


How to get medical marijuana in Maryland, and other FAQs

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Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn, owner of the Takoma Wellness Center in the District, dispenses medical marijuana in 2014. He’s part of a team that got a preliminary license to operate in Maryland. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post)
By Fenit Nirappil September 2 at 4:39 PM
Maryland’s first legal medical marijuana crop is finally growing after years of delays. Industry officials estimate the drug will be available for purchase by early 2018. Here’s what you need to know:

How can I get it?
First, you must register as a patient with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. For children to receive medical cannabis, at least one parent or guardian must register as a caregiver.

Then you need a certification from a doctor who is already registered with the commission. An expansion of the law also allows nurse practitioners, dentists, podiatrists and midwives to certify patients to use medical cannabis.

Dispensaries will check an online database of certifications before selling marijuana to patients. The registry is available on the cannabis commission’s website.

How do I find a doctor who will recommend marijuana?
The medical marijuana law is written with the idea that patients may use cannabis if it is recommended by their health-care providers. In practice, people probably will seek out providers who are willing to certify patients, and some health-care professionals will advertise their willingness.

Regulators are trying to avoid a system in which unscrupulous health professionals hand out certifications to anyone who pays.

Maryland’s rules require a provider to have a “bona fide” relationship with a patient and to meet the patient in person before issuing a certification for medical marijuana. The list of participating providers is not public.

Can patients from other states purchase marijuana?
The law allows nonresidents to participate if they are being treated in Maryland (such as cancer patients receiving chemotherapy). But the commission is not currently registering out-of-state patients while it reviews its policies.

It is a federal offense to transport marijuana across state lines — even to the District, Delaware and Pennsylvania, where the use of medical marijuana also is legal.

What conditions qualify for treatment with cannabis?
Cachexia or wasting syndrome, anorexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe or persistent muscle spasms, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain are all treatable with medical marijuana, the law says.

But the regulations have a catchall provision that allow physicians and other providers to recommend cannabis for patients if they think doing so is in the patients’ best medical interests.


Does medical marijuana need to be smoked?

In addition to the dried-leaf variety, companies have plans to process medical cannabis into a variety of other products including capsules, oils, creams, vaporizing pens and a peanut brittle-like substance called shatter.

State law does not allow edible medical marijuana products — such as brownies, cookies and gummies — which are popular in other states.

Read more about Maryland’s medical marijuana program:

Following Post report, Maryland probes potential conflicts in selection of pot businesses

Lawmaker behind marijuana legalization reprimanded for undisclosed business ties

Why a last-minute change in who would grow Maryland’s marijuana sparked a lawsuit

The political donors, ex-cops and even clergy who wanted to grow Maryland’s marijuana
 
Josh Genderson, a District medical marijuana grower pictured in his D.C. facility, is among the dozen licensed growers set to operate in Maryland. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
Hope old 'Josh' isn't planning on making a practice of going into his grow in his street cloths or he's gonna find he's contaminating his plants... :cool:

Good news for Maryland though. Finally! It will be interesting to see if this business model for grows is what continues as the programs grow across the U.S. It would appear so.
 
Hope old 'Josh' isn't planning on making a practice of going into his grow in his street cloths or he's gonna find he's contaminating his plants... :cool:

Good news for Maryland though. Finally! It will be interesting to see if this business model for grows is what continues as the programs grow across the U.S. It would appear so.
That was his "DC Grow" in the picture. DC has NO regulations whatsoever thanks to Congress. None. Zip. No requirements. No testing. Nada

His MD grow will be run much different as there are a host of requirements and testing that he must meet.

DC is a mess. Legal....but a legal mess.

Also, watch all of the "like an upscale Dr Office" or "like a day spa" go out the window when they get these dispensaries up and running. They will end up, IME, just like every dispensary anywhere....a store front that sells MMJ. All of the "consultative medical model" was all window dressing to win licenses but I suspect that their customers are not going to put up with all of that foderal and that they will find that their bottom line won't support it either.
 
Rolling, rolling, rolling....keep them doggies rolling...keep them dogies rolling, Rawhide! Hah, whip, snap...move along you little MMJ program, move along now.

Meet the companies launching Maryland's cannabis industry

After years of delays, lawsuits and other controversy, 14 firms in Maryland are now growing or poised to grow legal medical marijuana, firing up the supply chain for a market that’s expected to reach a quarter billion dollars annually.

The entrepreneurs who were awarded the lucrative licenses to produce the plant have largely stayed out of the limelight as they built multimillion-dollar facilities, fended off legal challenges and raced to get growing before lawmakers could authorize more licenses.

A Baltimore Sun review of state records shows that Maryland’s first legal marijuana cultivators come from a range of backgrounds, drawing on experience in pharmaceuticals, restaurants, nurseries, medicine, real estate, law enforcement and liquor distribution.

Some of the new businesses are run by prominent Maryland businessmen with deep political ties, donors who have contributed heavily to candidates on one or both sides of the aisle. Others operate marijuana companies in other states, and have brought their expertise here. Several are owned by families; one is led by physicians.

“One of the underlying principles of ecology is you need diversity to survive, and you want that in a business ecosystem too,” said Francis J. Priznar, a senior vice president with Arcview Group, a network of cannabis investors. “Some will do better than others, and hopefully lessons learned will spread through the industry.”



Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Commission relied on the Regional Economic Studies Institute of Towson University to rank the applications. The institute used a double-blind process to rate applicants on a range of criteria, including horticulture experience, security plans and quality of their proposals. The institute produced a list ranking all of the applicants, and the commission picked 15 out of the top 25.

The professional diversity reflected among the winners was not deliberate. The panel did try to boost geographic diversity, by awarding licenses to two firms that did not initially rank among the top 15, but were located among what members considered underserved areas of the state. That move drew lawsuits from the firms that were squeezed out of licenses; they are still pending.

In at least one way, critics say, Maryland’s first license holders are not diverse enough: In a state where nearly a third of the population is African-American, none of the firms is led by a black owner. The Legislative Black Caucus has vowed to make sure the state issues licenses to minority-owned businesses.

Features written into the regulations for growing marijuana in Maryland made the application process unusually competitive, even for an industry analysts say delivers profit margins of 25 percent. While growing, possessing, buying or selling the drug remains against federal law — meaning investment in the industry entails a level of uncertainty — the rules proved attractive to firms willing to take the risk: Patients don't have to live here to buy from here, and the drug may be used to treat an extensive array of conditions, including chronic pain. It’s not just physicians, either, who can suggest marijuana. Midwives, podiatrists, registered nurses and dentists can, too.

Compared to other Eastern states, Maryland required a low financial hurdle: successful candidates were required to pay application fees of $6,000, rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars. And unlike some Western states, it allowed businesses to raise money from outside the state.

More than 140 groups applied for licenses.

“There was broad opportunity to try to get involved in the industry,” said John Kagia, an executive vice president at marijuana research firm New Frontier Data. “There are a lot of smart, savvy people who are realizing that cannabis represents a great economic opportunity and are willing to leave behind industries in which they’ve been successful.”

The marijuana commission “wants high-grade pharmaceutical products,” said Patrick Jameson, its executive director. “Innovation can come from anywhere. This is a real opportunity for medical innovation in Maryland.”

General Assembly leaders have promised to expand the number of licenses as soon as January to make sure there is more racial diversity among medical marijuana growers.

In the meantime, here are the principal actors behind each of the 14 companies.




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

ForwardGro

Led by Gary Mangum, ForwardGro became Maryland’s first marijuana cultivator in May. Mangum made a fortune growing ornamental flowers; he is CEO of Bell Nursery, a supplier to Home Depot garden centers. Mangum is a well-known Republican donor and friend of Gov. Larry Hogan, who appointed him to the executive board of the Maryland Stadium Authority. ForwardGro’s state-of-the art greenhouse in Lothian is expected to have marijuana ready during the fall, producing the first crop in the state. Mangum’s team includes his former business partner at Bell, Mike McCarthy; former Anne Arundel County sheriff George Johnson, a onetime Democratic candidate for county executive; cannabis patient advocate Gail Rand; and anesthesiologist Debra Kimless. The executives of ForwardGro have given more than $195,000 in political donations in recent years, with Mangum personally giving three-fourths of that sum since 2007.

Holistic Industries

Holistic’s CEO Josh Genderson is the fourth generation of his family to own and operate the expansive liquor store Schneider’s of Capitol Hill in Washington. He opened his first marijuana business in the district, and his new Prince George’s County marijuana venture brings on board several well-connected Maryland residents, among them former Prince George’s County Police Det. Vince Canales, president of the state’s Fraternal Order of Police; Nelson Sabatini, who was state health secretary under two governors and now chairs the panel that sets rates at Maryland hospitals; Richard Polansky, son-in-law of top-paid Annapolis lobbyist Gerard “Gerry” Evans, who helped advocate for the company in the legislature; Henry P. Miller, a distant cousin of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller; and Richard Cohen, a major developer who founded the Willco real estate company. Both Senate President Miller and Mel Franklin, then chairman of the Prince George’s County Council, wrote letters to state regulators praising Cohen and recommending Holistic’s application be approved. As a company, Holistic donated more to Maryland lawmakers than any other new marijuana growing firm, handing out $43,500 in 2016 to 11 public officials, including $5,000 each to Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch, both Democrats, and $6,000 to Hogan, a Republican. In addition to contributions made by the company, its executives and the firms they own have donated more than $103,500 to Maryland politicians in recent years. Holistic was one of the two lower-ranked firms that the commission boosted into the top 15 in order to achieve geographic diversity among winners. The firm has been cleared to start growing marijuana in a custom-designed warehouse in Capitol Heights.

Curio Wellness

Healthcare entrepreneur and Democratic donor Michael Bronfein leads the Curio group, which raised $30 million and built a futuristic warehouse in a Lutherville-Timonium office park. One of Curio’s major investors is Bronfein’s fellow Baltimore County businessman David D. Smith, executive chairman of the television station empire Sinclair Broadcast Group. While Bronfein has been engaged in liberal politics nationally for decades, Smith is a well-known conservative. Curio, and its plan to develop and license a branded line of specialty “wellness” cannabis products, was the idea of Bronfein’s daughter, Wendy Bronfein, a former New York marketing executive. Other Bronfein family members also work at Curio, as does Douglas DeLeaver, a former MTA official and retired police officer whose daughter is Hogan’s press secretary and whose son-in-law is a Hogan Cabinet secretary. DeLeaver used to work with Jameson, the cannabis commission’s executive director, when they were both state troopers. Executives with the firm have made $116,000 in political donations in Maryland, about half of it from Bronfein. Bronfein, who launched several health care service businesses and sits on the board at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, is a friend of former President Bill Clinton and an informal adviser and fundraiser for national Democratic candidates, and was campaign finance chair for 2002 Democratic Maryland gubernatorial nominee Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Among the Wikileaks release last summer of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee were Bronfein’s notes of advice to Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta. Bronfein is also part of the team behind the Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino.

Doctors Orders

Glenn Weinberg, former principal at the Cordish Cos. development empire, is the CEO of Doctors Orders. The company is one of two that failed to meet an August deadline to become operational but secured an extension from regulators. Restaurateur Jeff Black of Black Restaurant Group had signed on as the company’s COO, but state officials say he has now backed out. Del. Dan Morhaim, an emergency room physician and leading advocate for legalizing marijuana, agreed to run a Baltimore County dispensary for the firm but backed out amid an ethics investigation. Weinberg had overseen shopping center development for Cordish, but retired from the firm about the same time the company launched plans to build the Maryland Live! casino in Hanover. His children are involved in the marijuana business, as is venture capitalist Herbert P. Wilkins Jr. of Syncom, son of the late Herb Wilkins Sr., an early investor in BET and Radio One. Doctors Orders is building a growing facility in Dorchester County.

Freestate Wellness Cary Millstein, president of this Howard County growing operation, spent 30 years in the construction business and owns a business that exports pecans to Asia. His co-owner is neuroscientist Rachel Fischell, granddaughter to prolific inventor Robert Fischell, the namesake of University of Maryland’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering and the holder of more than 200 patents. Two other Fischell family members are involved in the business, which Millstein says will work closely with Johns Hopkins researchers to evaluate how marijuana use reduces opioid overdoses. Also involved is Darren Granger with the Howard County sheriff’s office.



Green Leaf Medical

Philip Goldberg leads Green Leaf and its Frederick County growing operation. Goldberg, who owns a marketing company in Montgomery County, was president of the Maryland Cannabis Industry Association before the industry existed, and was a frequent voice in Annapolis pushing to get the program off the ground. His brother Kevin Goldberg is the former head of the state’s association of trial lawyers and a member of the team. Other members include Martha Bergmark, founder of the legal aid group Voices for Civil Justice; several personal injury lawyers — James Zois, Laura Zois, Henry Greenberg and Lawrence Greenberg — Frank Boston, a lawyer and lobbyist for the law enforcement community; and retired Frederick police Lt. Thomas Chase.

HMS Health

The father-son team of Shakil and Haris Siddiqui own the Frederick County marijuana operation the family built on a 150-acre former tree nursery. Shakil Siddiqui founded the engineering and design firm Haris Design and Construction, which helped renovate the D.C Metro system. Several family members are involved in the marijuana growing business, including Islam Siddiqui, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official in the Clinton administration. Their security director is former Frederick County Sheriff James W. Hagy.

Harvest of Maryland

In a unique deal, Arizona-based CEO Steve White has set up a profit-sharing program with the western Maryland town of Hancock. Harvest built an indoor marijuana growing facility in a publicly owned warehouse left vacant when manufacturing firms moved out. The Washington County town will get a 5 percent share of Harvest’s profits, but no say in how the business is run. Harvest also runs medical marijuana businesses in Nevada and Illinois.

Kind Therapeutics, USA

CEO Susan Zimmerman is an Annapolis physician and entrepreneur who runs a pain clinic with husband and business partner Dr. William Tham. Kind Therapeutics plans to grow marijuana in a former furniture warehouse in Hagerstown. The firm failed to meet an Aug. 15 deadline to be operational, but secured an extension from marijuana regulators. The team also includes Richard Howard, a retired Baltimore County Police captain who ran that jurisdiction’s Safe Schools Program, which coordinated anti-drug programs.

Maryland Compassionate Care

After winning their license, this Chicago-based firm started doing business as Grassroots of Maryland and renovated a warehouse in the 6,700-person Carroll County town of Taneytown.

The CEO is Steve Weisman, a Chicago-area lawyer and CEO of Windy City Cannabis Club, which operates four dispensaries in Illinois. Grassroots’ Co-CEO is Mitchell Kahn, who runs a separate set of three dispensaries in Illinois. Another investor, head cultivator John Fritzel, holds interest in more than 40 marijuana licenses in Colorado, where marijuana is legal for recreational use.

SunMed Growers

Veteran greenhouse operator Jake Van Wingerden is the sole owner and investor of SunMed Growers, which built from scratch a “Dutch-style” marijuana greenhouse on a 67-acre parcel in Cecil County. Van Wingerden is the third generation in his family to run greenhouses; his Tidal Creek growers supplies flowers to several companies in the region, and his company runs greenhouses for Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville. Van Wingerden, who is also president of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, gave no political contributions until after he applied to launch a marijuana business in late 2015. Since then, he’s given $7,050 to state and local candidates.



Grow West Md

Eight members from three generations of the Valois family of Frederick run this Western Maryland operation. The family says it collectively has more than 40 years’ experience in horticulture, including running landscaping companies and designing private gardens. The company hired Colorado-based cannabis expert Leif Olsen of GreenHaus Industries to help launch its Garrett County business. The firm also took on several people involved in Peak Harvest Health, a marijuana firm who did not win a license.

Shore Natural Rx

Shore Natural, run by Erick Bruder and Jacques Remmell of Berlin, is the only grower on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore. Bruder, the president, a former restaurateur who started the Hungry Surfer stand in Ocean City, runs the general contracting business Stag Contracting. Remmell is a former executive with Eastern Shore Gas Company who studied agriculture in college. The team also includes retired Baltimore County police officer Brian Cromer, who started his career in the Secret Service. Shore Natural was the other lower-ranked firm that regulators bumped into the winners’ pool in order to achieve geographic diversity.

Temescal Wellness

The Maryland branch of Temescal has a warehouse growing operation in Baltimore. Its principals have ties to marijuana companies in New Hampshire, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York and California. President Ted Rebholz worked in information technology before getting involved in a New Hampshire grow operation. Investors include several Baltimore attorneys, including Paul Bekman, Eric Radz and Craig Schulman. Michael Rego, a former narcotics officer in Newport, R.I., is in charge of security.
 
University of Maryland pharmacy school cancels plans to train medical marijuana workers

September 18,2017
Meredith CohnContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun

Citing legal concerns, the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy has canceled plans to offer training for those who work in the medical marijuana industry,

After consulting with the Maryland attorney general’s office, the university asked pharmacy school officials to cancel the classes, a university spokesman said.

While marijuana has been legalized for medical purposes in Maryland, 28 other states and the District of Columbia, the administration of President Donald J. Trump has not indicated how it will handle enforcement of the federal marijuana law, which still classifies the drug alongside heroin and LSD.

“If there’s any question of the law, they are often consulted,” said Alex Likowski, a spokesman for the University of Maryland, Baltimore. “Regarding medical cannabis, even though Maryland and many other states have approved it, it’s still illegal under U.S. law.”


While the school said it has suspended the program indefinitely, prospective students seeking to enroll through a university-associated website still see a note that enrollments were “suspended temporarily while the business agreements are being finalized by the university.”

The classes, initially scheduled to start in August, offered basic and advanced certifications in areas including cultivation, manufacturing, dispensing, laboratory standards and assessment.

It’s unclear whether the courses might be offered in the future. Pharmacy school officials did not respond to requests for comment.


Doctors in Maryland are not required to gain any special certification to recommend medical marijuana, but state law requires workers employed by growers, processors, dispensaries and laboratories to have training in their areas.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Cannabis Commission, said workers must obtain training.

“The commission expects the most highly trained and knowledgeable people will participate in the program,” he said.

It’s unknown where those who want to work in the industry might turn for needed instruction. The state commission does not endorse any particular certification program..

Maryland’s pharmacy school would have joined only a small number of established colleges and universities to lend credibility for training of workers.

The pharmacy school had adopted a curriculum developed by the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, which has been offering training directly since 2002. University officials said suspension of the courses was a not a reflection on that content. The group did not respond to request for comment.

There are other online options for training available — directly through Americans for Safe Access and through the likes of such little-known organizations as Cannabis Training Institute, THC University and Green Cultured. Some state medical societies also offer training, but MedChi does not in Maryland.

Perhaps the only mainstream medical school offering training is the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, which began offering courses in the spring of 2016. There is a course available to medical and other university students that focuses on clinical trial data, in addition to certification and continuing education courses available to the community.

Karen M. Lounsbury, a professor of pharmacology and co-director of Vermont’s medical cannabis course, said officials there had no legal concerns, though they were careful to comply with university policies.

“The biggest concern was that when presenting the clinical trial data for medical cannabis, we could be construed as supporting the use of medical cannabis that is legal in many states, including Vermont, but still illegal at the federal level,” she said. “We confirmed with the university lawyers that as long as we stated a clear disclaimer for each instructor, we would not be violating any university policy.”

The disclaimer says: “The content of this lecture material represents the opinions of the instructor based on their research and experience and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the University of Vermont.”

She said the program has an “evidence-based” approach and the classes are popular.

Medical marijuana advocates lamented that more well-respected universities were not offering medical courses for doctors or certifications courses for industry workers.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the advocacy group NORML, said such institutions were needed to establish training standards and to directly educate workers and doctors, very few of whom have had any instruction on the subject.

He noted that few universities even support research into medical uses for marijuana, largely because accessing the plant is restricted by federal law and conducting studies is time-consuming and costly. Without more clinical data, many doctors would remain unwilling to recommend medical marijuana. Without training, those who have interest could end up relying on patients for information.

Not much will change as long as the legal cloud remains, he said.

Already in Maryland, two large medical systems — MedStar Health and LifeBridge Health — have asked their doctors not to recommend medical marijuana. The University of Maryland Medical System, which includes 13 hospitals, has not developed a formal policy. A system spokesman, Michael Schwartzberg, said it was a “complex issue both medically and legally.”

Armentano said the industry has no choice but to try and establish its own standards for training.

“It is likely that medical schools will continue to shy away from cannabis education until the federal scheduling of cannabis is amended and/or the plant’s therapeutic utility is formally recognized by the FDA,” he said.
 
Peace all!

Funny. The doctors in Maryland had no problem "finding their footing" when oxycontin came out.

I know, I was one of the first to hear the news.

"Good news sir, you won't need to take all that percocet any more!"

It's big business in Maryland, and money wins over people. Doctors generally care about you, but not if they'll lose their boats and investment properties and private schools.

Money. Wins.

Every. Time.

Peace!
 
I'm withholding comment about Ms Glenn's continued pursuit of racist licensing...more important things have happened this week that makes this shit look silly.

Give her some licenses...anything to shut her up and get her out of the fucking way.


Black Caucus may 'take a knee' if General Assembly leaders don't swiftly pass medical marijuana expansion

70x70

Erin CoxContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun
Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus expects the General Assembly to swiftly pass a bill expanding the medical marijuana growing industry to include African-American firms.

And some members suggested the powerful voting bloc should “take a knee” if the legislation is not on the governor’s desk by the end of January.

During a wide-ranging public forum in Annapolis on Saturday, Caucus Chairwoman Cheryl Glenn for the first time outlined promises she said General Assembly leaders made about medical marijuana legislation, which is one of the group’s top priorities.

Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat, said staff for House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller assured her the bill will be among the first introduced when the legislature reconvenes Jan. 10.

She said it will receive an unusual, expedited joint House and Senate hearing on the first Monday of the session, which happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

If that does not happen, some members said the 50-member caucus — which makes up more than a quarter of the legislature and 40 percent of the Democratic caucus — will not cooperate with leadership on anything else.

“No one should expect us to have any trust if it doesn’t go the way that we have been told it will go,” Glenn said.

Her remark prompted several members of the caucus, less than half of whom where present, to shout, “We take a knee!”

“We’re not going to go along to get along,” said Del. Bilal Ali, a Baltimore Democrat. “Lesson time is coming up.”

Spokeswomen for Busch and Miller, both Democrats, did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.

This summer, the presiding officers ultimately turned down the caucus’ request for a special session on the topic, but promised to support “emergency” legislation in January.

Black leaders in Annapolis were outraged in 2016 when the first 15 preliminary licenses to grow medical marijuana were announced and no firms led by African-Americans were among them.

African-Americans make up about a third of the state’s population, and the law legalizing medical marijuana instructed regulators to “actively” seek racial diversity when awarding the licenses. Some losing firms filed a lawsuit over the issue; it is still pending.

Since last year, the Black Caucus pushed for an expansion of the nascent medical pot industry, and wanted to create five new pot-growing licenses that would likely go to African-American firms. Legislation to do that advanced almost to passage this year but died without a final vote in the waning minutes of this year’s General Assembly session in April.

The last-minute and unexpected failure of the legislation prompted a strong rebuke from black leaders.

“We have not shirked away from calling it what it was, and we felt that, once again, black folks were put at the back of the line,” Glenn said Saturday.

Hogan, a Republican, directed his administration this spring to conduct a disparity study to document whether minority-owned firms face a disadvantage in the marijuana industry. Such a study is a legal prerequisite to awarding licenses that take into account the race of applicants.

Members of the caucus sharply questioned Hogan administration officials Saturday about why the study was taking so long and when it would be completed.

“Please note this: We have to do this analysis properly, objectively, and without any input from various stakeholders,” said Jimmy Rhee, Hogan’s adviser for minority business affairs. “This is not a quick analysis, this is a detailed dive into the demographics of businesses in the state.”

After repeated questioning by several legislators, agency officials said they wanted to complete it by the end of the year, but they offered no guarantees.

Del. Nick J. Mosby, a Baltimore Democrat, asked Wu whether any disparity study undertaken by the state found that minority-led companies were on a level playing field with other firms.

“Not to my knowledge,” Wu said.

Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, another Baltimore Democrat, said he wanted the study to conclusively show that African-Americans did not have a fair shot at the new legal marijuana industry, and he wanted that established before public debate shifted to legalizing the drug for recreational use.

“I want this thing to be very comprehensive,” McFadden said. “Because somewhere down the line, I see a conversation about legalization, and I don’t want to be left waiting for a study.”
 
I was at this meeting.....there is still too much finger pointing and obscurity and not enough transparency and openness. MD citizens and patients still do not have a forward looking projection for when MMJ will be available and when the full industry will be up and running.

First Maryland medical cannabis crop grown but not yet for sale

The first crop in Maryland’s long-delayed medical cannabis program is mature and waiting for testing, but it is still unclear when patients might be able to buy it.

And industry officials caution that when it is ready for sale, there will not be nearly enough to meet market demand.

“This industry is in its infancy,” Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, said Tuesday.

“No one should have any expectations,” he said. “The initial supply of medical cannabis will be limited.”

The nascent industry has grown in fits and starts, beset by delays, court cases and a complete overhaul of the commission this summer.

On Tuesday afternoon, regulators approved eight more firms to enter the market — one grower, four processors, two independent testing labs and two dispensaries.

More than 100 companies given initial approval to join the market in 2016 have not passed inspection to come online.

Before Tuesday, just one dispensary and one independent testing lab were permitted to do business.

ForwardGro, the Anne Arundel County company that was the first in the state to get a growing license, sent its product to the lab last month and is waiting.

ForwardGro spokeswoman Gail Rand said her company gavethe testing lab some of its product to help the facility calibrate its machines, a process that is still underway. That must be completed before the marijuana flowers are tested for potency and quality, then certified for sale. She could not estimate when that would happen.

“We have to wait for all their equipment to be validated in order for them to be ready to test,” Rand said. “We are waiting for each step to figure out the next step.”

Newly approved dispensary owner William Askinazi said he’s hoping to have at least some product in two to four weeks.

The medical marijuana commission granted him permission Tuesday to open the doors at Potomac Holistics, his 3,000-square-foot medical suite near Shady Grove Medical Center in Montgomery County. In addition to dispensing at its office space, Potomac Holistic plans to deliver cannabis to patients all over the state.

Askinazi said he’s had 800 inquiries from potential patients in the last eight weeks.

“We’re ready to go,” he said. “We’re waiting for the growers.”

Jameson said 12,491 patients have been enrolled in the program, and 550 medical providers have signed up to recommend the drug, which represent less 3.5 percent of the state’s roughly 16,000 doctors.

There is not a public list of doctors available, so patients must seek out professionals to recommend it. Doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners and midwives can recommend the drug.

Also on Tuesday, medical marijuana regulators granted final approval to the 13th grower in the state, Kind Pharmaceuticals USA in Washington County, which is run by Annapolis pain doctor Susan Zimmerman.

Kind Pharmaceuticals also received a processing license, along with the Pharmaculture Corporation in Allegany County, Rosebud Organics in Montgomery County and AFS Maryland in Wicomico County.

Steep Hill Maryland in Howard County and Atlantic Testing Labs in Anne Arundel were granted provisional permission to operate as certifying testing labs, bringing to three the total number of labs in the state.

Frederick County is now home to two of the three approved dispensaries in Maryland now that KNR Holdings was approved to do business. The state’s first dispensary, the Wellness Institute of Maryland, opened in Frederick in early July and has been taking “pre-orders” since then.

During a meeting of the cannabis commission held in the Frederick County Council chambers, Jameson cautioned that the whole supply chain won’t be up and running at once, and patients may need to wait.
 

Inaction in Congress threatens Maryland medical marijuana


Maryland’s medical marijuana program, finally about to launch, could remain grounded if Congress fails to extend limits on federal prosecutions for using and selling the drug.

Under pressure from the anti-cannabis Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the House of Representatives is balking at preserving an Obama-era provision that gives the states space to decide their own approaches to regulating the drug.

Maryland, joining almost 30 other states, is preparing to legalize marijuana for the purpose of treating medical conditions. After years of delays, its first licensed grower is weeks away from offering an approved product to sell to patients on the recommendation of a medical practitioner.

But Congress could soon pull the rug out from under Maryland and the other states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Leah Heise, a dispensary license holder who plans to open her doors in Hampden by January, said the entire industry is watching Congress with concern.

“Everybody would be at risk,” said Heise, owner of Chesapeake Integrated Health Institute. “It would put the entire cannabis industry at risk for prosecution.”

Jake Van Windergen, chairman of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, urged Congress to keep the provision. He said its intent is “to respect state medical cannabis laws.”




The controversy boils down to 85 words Congress included in a massive budget bill late in the Obama administration, as if lawmakers wanted to acknowledge America’s outlook on marijuana had changed, but not make a big deal of it.

Almost three years later, a multibillion-dollar industry and the freedom of millions to openly partake in its products without fear of federal prosecution hinge on that obscure clause.

But now Congress may throw it overboard amid pressure from an attorney general who views marijuana as a dangerous menace.

The provision, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, constitutes a single paragraph of federal law. It prohibits the Justice Department from spending any money to prosecute medical marijuana users and sellers operating legally under state laws.

It has largely shut down efforts by federal prosecutors or drug enforcement officials to interfere with otherwise legal sales of marijuana in 29 states and the District of Columbia that have passed legalization measures.

Maryland passed its medical marijuana bill in 2013, but it has taken the state more than four years to get the industry close to being up and running.

After years of legislative revisions, court challenges and a ponderous regulatory process, the state is now on the brink of making cannabis available to patients suffering from a wide range of ailments, from epilepsy to the effects of chemotherapy.




Last month ForwardGro, the Anne Arundel County company that was the first in the state to get a growing license, sent a sample from its initial crop to a lab for testing in preparation for beginning sales. At least one dispensary owner hopes to have a product to sell in a matter of weeks.

But the prospect of the prosecution ban expiring has spread anxiety across the national marijuana industry. Pot sellers and patients wonder if federal raids are next.

“This would give the attorney general a blank check to go after medical marijuana,” said Sarah Trumble, deputy director of social policy and politics at Third Way, a think tank that advocates easing federal restrictions on cannabis. “Without it, he might try, but it would be really hard for him.”

The first big sign of trouble for marijuana advocates came in September, when the House balked at preserving the amendment. GOP leaders refused to allow a vote in committee.

The Senate has reaffirmed its support for the provision in an affront to its former colleague, Sessions. But both houses must agree for the measure to remain in effect.

The hedging in the House followed an aggressive lobbying campaign by the attorney general, who complained in writing to lawmakers that the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment was hampering law enforcement and endangering the public.

“The Department must be in a position to use all laws available to combat the transnational drug organizations and dangerous drug traffickers who threaten American lives,” Sessions wrote.

The uncertain fate of the pot provision has created tension among Republicans, dozens of whom have cast votes to prevent the federal government from a crackdown on medical marijuana. Many would like to do so again.

The most vocal is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Repubilcan, who along with former Rep. Sam Farr, a California Democrat, got the ban into federal statute in 2014 after a decade of trying.

Rohrabacher insists Sessions is out of step with President Donald Trump, who has expressed support for medical marijuana. Rohrabacher says Trump would step in to protect medical pot if someone could get him to focus on it.

The congressman, who is a strong Trump supporter, is potentially a good candidate to do that. But the congressman said he doesn’t want to “mess up … something really important to the president” that he’s working on by throwing marijuana into the mix.

Rohrabacher wants to broker a deal between the Trump administration and Julian Assange, the fugitive founder of Wikileaks. According to Rohrabacher, Assange told him he has “absolute proof” that emails stolen from Democratic operatives during last year’s campaign did not come from the Russians.

Without the amendment, marijuana advocate Kate Bell said, growers on the scale of the 15 licensed in Maryland could be prosecuted under federal law as drug kingpins.

Bell is legislative counsel for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington. The group supports renewal of the amendment, but if it were allowed to lapse, she said, she doubts the Justice Department would prioritize enforcement in a tightly regulated state such as Maryland. She noted that the Trump administration has not moved against the eight states that have allowed marijuana sales for recreational use.

“Given the sheer size of the industry and the number of people and businesses involved around the country, the federal government doesn’t have the resources to prosecute everyone come Dec. 9,” she said. “It would be politically stupid for President Trump’s administration to prosecute people for medical marijuana, something that 93 percent of Americans support, especially when he repeatedly said he supported medical marijuana during his campaign.”

Heise said Sessions wouldn’t have to go after everybody in the distribution chain to have a chilling effect. She said one prosecution of someone like her could shut down the industry.

But she said it would also galvanize medical marijuana proponents.

“The idea that he’s going to go after people who operating legitimately under state law is shocking,” she said.
 
Maryland veterans will be eligible for free medical marijuana consultations
Veterans all across Maryland who have been considering whether the state’s medical marijuana program could be a viable part of their overall treatment plan will have an opportunity in the coming weeks to discuss the option with a licensed physician at no cost.

According to the Baltimore Business Journal, a physician’s group called Canna Care Docs will be offering complimentary medical evaluations and on site registration assistance over the next few weeks for military veterans wanting to explore whether medical marijuana is right for them.

For many veterans, the act of simply applying for participation in the state’s medical marijuana program can be a daunting task, not to mention financially challenging. These types of consultations often run in upwards of $200, even before the first cannabis purchase is ever made. However, on October 14, October 28 and November 4, local veterans will have the opportunity to speak with a state-licensed physician and even get officially enrolled in the program without coughing up a single cent.

"Unfortunately for many veterans, their health can be negatively affected due to their deployment," said Maggie Fauver, mid-Atlantic operations manager with Canna Care. "These veteran events are Canna Care Docs' way of sincerely saying 'Thank you for our freedom.'"

Although medical marijuana is legal in Maryland, it is still very much against the law in the eyes of the federal government. It is for this reason that doctors employed with the Department of Veterans Affairs cannot even begin to discuss medical marijuana with their patients.

In some cases, even those veterans who look to outside medical assistance in order to get involved with their local medical marijuana programs experience hardships at when returning to the VA. Testing positive for marijuana, even if it is only for medicinal purposes, has been known to cost veterans the loss of prescription drug privileges.

Until the federal government changes its position, there is not much of a chance that the VA will amend its drug policy and begin assisting patients wanting to use medical marijuana.

This means veterans will need to rely on services like the one being offered by Canna Care to in order to test the waters.

Some of the latest studies show that medical marijuana can be effective in the treatment of chronic pain and PTSD; both commonly reported conditions within the veteran’s community.
 
This shit will never end...sigh. But again, I believe that the opening line of the article is a bit over the top. Look, they wanted to award 15 grower licenses and run a merit only eval. When the results came out, old eastern state political machinerary went into action to horse trade off two of the winners for two non-winning companies in counties that our lovely politicians wanted something from (support for this, support for something else, who the fuck knows, this as a backroom deal). The Maryland Black Caucus saw that and wondered where their pork was so they threatened to sue (and will get racist base licenses granted when the legislature goes back into session).

Now the two winners who were bumped off are suing. The easy answer is "just award two more licenses" which, with expected 5 the racist issued licenses, will result in 22 growers instead of 15. So what's the problem with that....well, MD is medical only and the 15 original winners based their business and investment plan on a certain amount of competition for a certain amount of sales. Any of these type actions would have the effect of dilluting their market...before the market is even open much less stable.

THIS is what happens when you let politicians interfere in free market business affairs. Its fucking joke, is what it is.



Judge says Maryland marijuana lawsuit can go to trial
BALTIMORE — A judge has ruled that a lawsuit that could disrupt Maryland’s fledgling medical marijuana industry can go to trial.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Circuit Judge Barry Williams ruled Wednesday that a trial should determine whether state regulators acted improperly when they chose certain companies to award lucrative licenses to grow the drug.

State lawyers had asked the judge to dismiss the case.

At issue are two of the state’s medical marijuana licenses awarded to companies that did not rank among the top 15 applicants.

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Regulators said they awarded the licenses to two lower-ranked firms to broaden the geographic diversity of the growers, as required by state law.

The two higher-ranking firms displaced by that action sued the state.

The judge has not set a trial date.
 
Marylanders May Get To Weigh-in on Legalization
When the Maryland general assembly was deadlocked on passing a law to legalize gambling nearly ten years ago, it deferred to voters in the form of a referendum called Question 2 in 2008 to decide. Legal gambling was ultimately approved by a ratio of 3-to-2 votes.

Baltimore16-001.jpg

Baltimore City Delegate Curt Anderson (D-43), says he plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming General Assembly, that would allow Maryland voters to decide whether the state should legalize the recreational use of marijuana. (Courtesy Photos)
Now a key state legislator wants to give the people the same opportunity to weigh in on another controversial issue, legalized marijuana. The question is, will the state’s political establishment allow it?

“We’ve got a new strategy this year to introduce a bill that would simply put it on the ballot for referendum and let the people decide,” State Delegate Curt Anderson (D-43) told the AFRO.

During the upcoming session in Annapolis, which begins in January, Anderson said he plans to introduce a referendum that would allow voters to approve the legalization of marijuana directly. He said his bill would put the question on the ballot for the 2018 midterm elections.

“We feel that folks who have not supported this bill in the past could support the idea of allowing Marylanders to decide,” he said.

It’s the latest in a series of efforts by the veteran lawmaker to help Maryland join a nationwide trend to remove the plant from under the auspice of the criminal justice system.

For Anderson and other supporters, legalizing marijuana is not just about loosening restrictions on a now illegal drug, it’s a criminal justice issue with deep roots in the state’s proven bias towards arresting African-Americans for marijuana related offenses.

As recently as 2014, over 90 percent of the Baltimore’s marijuana arrests were targeted at African-American residents, a number disproportionate to the population. In fact, a 2013 report by the Maryland ACLU found that racial disparities tied to marijuana arrests increased between 2001 and 2010, with the rate of arrest rising faster for African-Americans than Whites. In all, the report concluded, the state spent nearly $105 million in 2010 prosecuting pot related offenses.

In 2014, Anderson in conjunction with the state’s Legislative Black Caucus was instrumental in passing legislation that made possession of less than ten grams of pot subject to a criminal citation. It’s a law Anderson says has proven both popular and effective, which is why he wants the public to weigh in on the broader question of legalization.

“This will be referendum on whether or not if should be legalized like Oregon and Washington State,” he said. According to the Oregon Department of Revenue, the state brought in $50 million more than expected from marijuana tax receipts in 2016.

“We want to know what Marylanders think.”

The move comes amid another controversy over marijuana, the state’s exclusion of majority Black owned firms from the small group of firm awarded licenses to grow medical pot. The oversight prompted State Delegate Cheryl Glenn (D-45) to call for the caucus to ‘take a knee’ during the upcoming legislative session unless state leaders give a license to an African-American controlled firm.

A threat she said still stands.

“We expect when we go back to session to have an emergency bill to go out right away,” Glenn said. “We will be holding a press conference on the first day of session to announce our strategy.”

However, despite her push for more equity in medical marijuana licensing, Glenn says she is not ready to throw support behind Anderson’s proposal.

““At this point I am not ready to support recreational marijuana,” Glenn said. “We need to get medical marijuana done first.”

The office of Governor Larry Hogan did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
 

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