Law Maryland MMJ

[Baron23]

Four years later, Maryland’s medical marijuana program moved forward in 2017 despite frequent controversy

Four years after then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed legislation that legalized medical marijuana and established a commission to oversee its implementation, Maryland residents finally have legal, albeit limited, access to the drug.

Currently, there are 22 fully licensed dispensaries and at least nine are open for business.

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

For advocates, residents, patients and applicants vying to establish a foothold in the state’s medical marijuana industry, 2017 has been full of challenges. Here are some of the stories that have shaped the implementation of the program as the state continues to slowly expand access to registered patients across the state.

The lawmaker who pushed to legalize the state’s medical marijuana program was embroiled in controversy.

The early part of the year included the end of a months-long controversy surrounding Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), a Maryland lawmaker who helped shape rules around the state’s medical marijuana program. Morhaim was removed from the health committee that oversaw such bills after The Washington Post revealed his connection to Doctor’s Orders, a business that had applied for a dispensary licenses in the state. After an ethics probe, Morhaim was reprimanded.

[Lawmaker who pushed medical pot in Md. is part of team applying to sell the drug]

Maryland’s medical marijuana industry lacked racial diversity. These lawmakers tried to change it.

Regulators in August 2016 awarded the first batch of preliminary licenses to grow and process medical marijuana. None of the 15 cultivators given clearance to grow was led by an African American, although African Americans make up nearly a third of Maryland’s population. To change this, leaders of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland introduced legislation to restructure the industry to make it more inclusive. The legislation did not advance. Following the bill’s failure, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) ordered a study of the racial disparities in the state’s cannabis program, and legislative leaders vowed to support new measures when the General Assembly convenes in January.

[Hogan orders study of racial disparities in medical marijuana industry]

Records obtained by The Washington Post revealed that some independent experts, hired to review dispensary licensing applications, had ties to the companies that were applying.

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. This report triggered an investigation by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission for potential conflicts of interest.

[Md. pot companies cleared, get licenses after probe of possible conflicts of interest]

The industry finally started to settle in, with more licenses approved for cultivators, processors and dispensaries.


Maryland’s medical marijuana program showed renewed signs of life after regulators authorized more companies to grow the plant and process it into medical products. Over the course of fall and into winter, more dispensaries were approved, and the first medical marijuana stores opened for business in early December.

[Medical marijuana has arrived in Maryland, and sales have begun]

Triumph turned to headache as demand overwhelmed supply.

Maryland patients were soon hit with another obstacle: a very low supply of medicinal marijuana. In the first week of December, five of the seven operating licensed dispensaries reported that they completely, or almost completely, ran out of flower — the raw part of the marijuana plant that is smoked or vaporized — and had limited supplies of other cannabis products. The shortage was because most licensed growers were not yet ready to harvest and sell their crop. It drove up prices, and frustrated patients who had been waiting months or years to have legal access to cannabis to treat nausea, pain or other maladies.

[Maryland medical marijuana dispensaries are already running out of pot]

 

[Baron23]

How a Maryland bank is quietly solving the marijuana industry’s cash problem

Most banks refuse to open accounts for cannabis-related businesses even in states where pot is legal, citing federal laws that outlaw the drug and consider it on par with cocaine and heroin.

In Maryland, however, at least one community bank is working with the state’s newly launched medical marijuana industry, offering growers and stores a way to avoid the security concerns and extra costs of a cash-only approach.

Two marijuana dispensaries and two growers told The Washington Post they have opened business accounts with Severn Savings Bank, an Annapolis-based community bank owned by the publicly-traded Severn Bancorp. Three other businesses involved in the industry say they know of additional cannabis companies also banking with Severn.

Account holders have to pay hefty fees to Severn and can’t write checks or seek loans from the bank, because doing so might trigger scrutiny from federal regulators that could prove problematic. The businesses say they go to extraordinary lengths to prove that they aren’t violating any of Maryland’s strict medical pot regulations.

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

Peg Nottingham of Gaithersburg smokes a strain of medical marijuana called Northern Lights after buying it at a newly opened dispensary in Maryland. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
But the ability to pay employees through an automatic debit system, buy supplies with a debit card and purchase marijuana through wire transfers put Maryland pot businesses a step ahead of pioneers in such states as Colorado, California and Oregon, where industry observers estimate that 70 percent of marijuana businesses run on cash.

“That bank was very quick out of the gate saying, ‘I want to work with the industry,’ ” said Jake Van Wingerden, who chairs a Maryland cannabis trade association and heads SunMed Growers, a licensed grower in Cecil County that has had an account with Severn for more than a year. “Everybody I talk to has accounts at Severn. . . . I don’t know how else we would do business.”

The other cannabis businesses that said they had accounts with Severn are Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Cumberland, Time for Healing dispensary in Prince George’s County and Green Leaf Medical in Frederick.

Alan Hyatt, the president of Severn Bank, did not return repeated phone calls, and advertising manager Nicole Donegan said the bank “does not comment on specific banking methods or relationships.”

For years, cannabis advocates have tried to change marijuana’s status as a Schedule One drug, which would eliminate the legal limbo that deters most nationally-oriented financial institutions from holding what the federal government still considers drug money. Even state-chartered banks interested in working with cannabis companies have to report to federal regulators, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which protects banks during economic crises.

[A pivotal year for Maryland’s long-delayed medical marijuana program]

Advocates hope that the drug’s growing acceptance — Maryland dispensaries opened for business last month, and California legalized recreational use as of Jan. 1 — could lead to changes at the federal level. But an easing of restrictions seems unlikely under Trump-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who sharply opposes legalization.

Sahar Ayinehsazian, who specializes in cannabis banking issues at the marijuana-focused law firm Vicente Sederberg, says she’s never heard of a community bank losing its FDIC insurance for working with cannabis businesses.

Running afoul of state law is a much bigger worry. If one of Severn’s cannabis account holders was found to be illegally transporting marijuana across state lines or selling to minors, Ayinehsazian said, “it could lead to potential liability [for the bank] depending on how much they knew, how much they should have known and to what extent they were implicated in what was going on.”

That gives the bank a strong incentive to keep close tabs on account holders.

Dispensary managers who have accounts with Severn describe a rigorous protocol meant to keep pot-related accounts off the federal grid and to ensure they are following regulations. Businesses can’t write checks from their accounts or accept checks for deposit from customers, managers said, because such transactions would touch federally-regulated financial systems. They may not accept credit cards for purchases or use wire transfers for the same reason. They can’t seek small-business loans. Each day, dispensaries must email the bank detailed daily financial and inventory logs from Metric, the software system that regulators use to track marijuana from seed to sale.

“We have to account for every penny, every piece of product, to prove that there is no diversion of anything,” says Sajal Roy, an owner of Allegany County Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Cumberland.

Roy says he paid $3,000 to open an account with Severn two years ago and pays monthly fees of $1,750. Those costs were too much for Mechanicsville dispensary owner Charlie Mattingly. But Roy said the ability to pay employees and buy supplies from vendors using the bank’s automated transfer system is well worth the expense.

Community bankers’ efforts to work with the medical pot industry in other states have sometimes gone awry. In Florida last week, First Green Bank abruptly told its cannabis business account-holders that it would not hold their money past January, even though it had spent years positioning itself as the sole banking resource for the industry there.

First Green did not explain the reasoning behind what it called a “tough business decision,” but the Miami Herald reported that the move is part of an impending buyut by a larger financial institution.

For now in Maryland, Severn does not appear to have any competition. Phil Goldberg, chief executive of Frederick-based grower Green Leaf Medical, said he called an estimated 40 banks about setting up an account for his marijuana business when he started the company last year, and only Severn was open to it. That could change, however: Goldberg says he is meeting a representative from a different bank, which he declined to name, about touring its facility and potentially setting up an account.

There are also out-of-state technology companies that can help pot businesses formalize their operations. CanPay offers a mobile app that lets customers make debit payments. A California-based start-up called Green Bits offers a tablet-based inventory management system that dispensary managers can use to track cash purchases.

Those who take the all-cash approach sometimes end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars locked in on-site vaults, waiting to be doled out to employees on payday. Many dispensary owners say handling large piles of cash and marijuana could make them a target for criminals.

Having access to banking services should be viewed as a stamp of legitimacy, some cannabis entrepreneurs said.

“We want that recognition that cannabis is not a back-alley business,” said Terri White, a psychotherapist whose Time for Healing dispensary has an account with Severn but is still awaiting its final approval from the state so it can open for business. “We’re here to help people and make a financial impact on the community.”

 

[Baron23]

"Del. Cheryl D. Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat and chair of the caucus, said she asked to have Monday’s hearing scheduled on Martin Luther King Day as a “really symbolic gesture” to the black community. Expanding diversity in the state’s fledgling medical marijuana industry is a top priority of the influential, 51-member voting bloc for the second year in a row."​

No it isn't. The LBC does not care about diversity. They care about license set asides for black people, just another parochial, special interest group, pork grab. Don't believe it? Ok, here's the next line of the article:

“For generations, the African-American population has been disproportionately impacted by the marijuana laws,” Glenn told her colleagues on the House and Government Operations Committee."
​

You getting your ass busted in the barrio....she don't care. You are Hmong.....no license set aside for you. Native Americans including Inuits, nope...that ain't her interest either. All she wants to do is deliver pork to her constituents which are black americans. Any other more favorable interpretation is just lip stick on a pig, IMO.

I would respect her position more if she was just honest about what it is that she and the LBC are doing.

Also, will somebody please explain to me the difference between a "race conscious manner" and "racist manner". Frankly, I don't see the distinction.

"If a diversity study now being done by the Hogan administration demonstrates African-Americans were at a disadvantage in getting into the medical marijuana business, the legislation would call for those five new licenses to be awarded in a race-conscious manner."​

Medical marijuana compromise hits snags over timing, moratorium

Maryland lawmakers ran into controversy immediately Monday as they opened debate on how to reshape the state’s medical marijuana industry to include cannabis firms led by African-Americans.

While General Assembly and marijuana industry leaders widely agree it’s unacceptable that none of the 15 lucrative licenses to grow marijuana are held by minority-owned companies, the passage of a compromise designed to fix that appears contentious.

The compromise, negotiated by legislative and industry leaders since last spring, would create five new growing licenses but stop further expansion of the growing industry for as long as 10 years.

Lawmakers doubted state regulators could move fast enough to get minority firms off the ground and competitive with current growers, which have been working for more than a year and started distributing product just six weeks ago.

And lawmakers also questioned whether a proposed 10-year moratorium on other new growing licenses was too generous a protection for the existing growers, who say they need the stability to establish Maryland’s multi-million medical pot industry.




The debate has the potential to delay the ambitious timeline proposed by the Legislative Black Caucus to pass the emergency legislation and get it onto Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk by the end of the month.

Del. Cheryl D. Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat and chair of the caucus, said she asked to have Monday’s hearing scheduled on Martin Luther King Day as a “really symbolic gesture” to the black community. Expanding diversity in the state’s fledgling medical marijuana industry is a top priority of the influential, 51-member voting bloc for the second year in a row. A previous effort failed as the 2017 General Assembly session ended.

“For generations, the African-American population has been disproportionately impacted by the marijuana laws,” Glenn told her colleagues on the House and Government Operations Committee. “We are very committed that Maryland be a role model state for ensuring … diversity in this multi-billion industry.”

Glenn brought prominent Baltimore City attorney William H. “Billy” Murphy to help her press the case that the General Assembly must include black business owners in the legal growing industry as soon as possible.

“The time is now for this, and it is ironic that those who have been disproportionately arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated for the use of marijuana did not have a chance as a community to participate in this industry,” Murphy said. “We’ll be starting from the ground floor, so the sooner we can get this done, the better the African- American community will be.”

The launch of Maryland’s medical marijuana industry has been beset by delays, lawsuits and discord over who received licenses and whether they were awarded fairly. Two lawsuits threatening to upend the industry are still pending in Baltimore City Circuit Court.




Marijuana sales began Dec. 1, but with just three growers providing product and a handful of dispensaries open for business. Patient advocates, growers and regulators say that it will be months before supply can start to meet demand for the 19,000 patients registered in Maryland so far.

The proposed legislation would add five new growing licenses in Maryland, raising the cap from 15 to 20.

If a diversity study now being done by the Hogan administration demonstrates African-Americans were at a disadvantage in getting into the medical marijuana business, the legislation would call for those five new licenses to be awarded in a race-conscious manner. The study is a legal prerequisite for the state to take into account the race of applicants when choosing winners.

But the proposed new law also calls for a new application process for the new licenses, which Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission Chairman Bryan Lopez said could take as long as 12 months to develop. It could take another six months to evaluate the applicants, which Lopez called a conservative estimate.

Del. Terri L. Hill, a doctor and Democrat from Baltimore County, told Lopez she thought that was too long.

“I’m very concerned about the timeline that you’re mapping out, and I’m very concerned about people who haven’t been part of the game,” she said.

Lopez, who was put in charge of the beleaguered cannabis commission this summer when Hogan replaced 12 of the 16 sitting commissioners, asked state delegates to make a list of changes to the Black Caucus’ proposal — including not replacing him and shrinking the size of the commission starting on June 1.

“It would be unbelievably disruptive to the market,” he said.

Jake Van Wingerden, president of SunMed Growers in Cecil County and president of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, agreed and asked that the current commission stay on for at least year.

Wingerden also said the moratorium would help the industry get up and running, saying “It will offer peace in the industry.”

He said today’s supply problems will be short-lived.

“It just started. We’re in our infancy,” he said. “What’s out there in the marketplace right now is just the tip of the iceberg.”

But Paige Cohen, who runs the Hippocratic Growth dispensary in Chestertown with her sister, said the proposed decade-long moratorium on new growing businesses was just a way to limit competition and enrich the small pool of growers.

“If you ask the Coca-Cola Company if we should get rid of the Pepsi company, what do you think they would say?” Cohen asked.

The proposed medical marijuana legislation also would create a “compassionate use” fund to help low-income patients and veterans pay for the drug. Medical marijuana is not covered by insurance.

The Maryland General Assembly reconvened last week, and a Senate hearing on the medical marijuana proposal has not yet been scheduled.

 

[Baron23]

Well, I'm not sure all of this is a "fix" in the sense of repairing something that's broken. Parts of it seems like its a "fix" as in "the fix is in".

I have been very clear and consistent for a very long time that I am in violent agreement with the goal of absolute equal opportunity. I have also been pretty clear that my personal view does not support equal outcome based on membership in one identity group or another. I am rather strongly into individual rewards for individual merit.

With that said, jere are a couple of quotes from the article below that grabbed my attention:

"Whatever it (sic: the study on historical minority discrimination in the MMJ industry as a justification for race based licensing) may find, the state has every reason to move forward with an expansion in the number of grower’s licenses and a new application procedure that uses race-conscious policies to foster diversity, if possible, and race-neutral ones if not."
​

This is what I don't get...how can "race-conscious" based licensing be more egalitarian and provide greater true equal opportunity than a "race-neutral" evaluation? I just don't get activists for equality advocating for the inequality of a race based system of license award.

And then there is this:

"The previous application included no information about race or ethnicity"
​

Which is correct. The proposals were redacted and the evaluation was merit of the content only without any info on principals identity or their ethnicity.

So, if this is indeed true (which I believe is inarguable) that is if the initial evaluation was done on merit only and hence provided equal opportunity, then what is the basis for demanding that additional licenses be set aside for black applicants only aside.

They are talking out of both sides of their mouths and once again what we are really seeing is just pork and special interest politics in a political machine state.

Here's how to fix Maryland’s medical marijuana program

It’s no surprise that an effort to overhaul Maryland’s medical marijuana law and to help bring more diversity to the roster of state licensed growers is proving contentious. There’s far too much money at stake for it to be any other way.

Nonetheless, there is no reason lawmakers can’t move forward quickly with a bill that addresses the broadly shared goals of bringing minority-owned firms into the lucrative industry while providing adequate supplies and protections for patients. Indeed, there’s every reason they should.

From the beginning, Maryland legislators wanted regulators to consider racial and ethnic diversity in awarding licenses for growers, processors and dispensers. The state’s medical marijuana commission did not do so, however, upon advice from the attorney general’s office that it could not provide such preferences without a study establishing a legal basis for doing so.

Why the commission did not at that point request such a study is a mystery, but last year, Gov. Larry Hogan ordered that one be conducted, and, despite hopes that it could be quickly concluded, it is due by the end of the month. Whatever it may find, the state has every reason to move forward with an expansion in the number of grower’s licenses and a new application procedure that uses race-conscious policies to foster diversity, if possible, and race-neutral ones if not.

If anything is clear thus far about Maryland’s fledgling market for medical marijuana, it’s that we are not faced with a glut in supply. Most of the licensed growers have yet to bring a crop to market, and it’s entirely possible that some never will.

If the legislature does nothing, the existing law — the one that was in place when all the licensed growers applied and the one on which their business models are based — called for the commission “to issue the number of licenses necessary to meet the demand for medical cannabis … in an affordable, accessible, secure, and efficient manner” as of June 1, 2018.

Industry representatives testified at a House of Delegates hearing Monday that Maryland’s current retail prices for medical marijuana — ranging from $350 to $650 an ounce — are the highest in the nation, and the number of patients registered so far is expected to double to 40,000 within a year and eventually double again. Given that, there is every reason to expect that the commission would authorize more grower licenses this summer no matter what.

The legislation being pushed by the Legislative Black Caucus in an effort to bring more minorities into the industry would authorize five new grower licenses now but would then shut the door to new ones for at least six years and for as long as a decade.

The bill also gives the Legislative Policy Committee the power to decide when a study on whether to increase the number of grower licenses will be conducted. No doubt, the existing licensees like that provision, as it limits their competition well into the next decade, and it would help the five new entrants into the industry to establish themselves.

But it’s not in the best interests of patients, and it would shut out other potential new entrants into the business — including minorities — in the years ahead. The original legislation was right to leave decisions about how to balance supply and demand in the hands of the commission, not politicians who could be susceptible to influence by deep-pocketed special interests.

The commission has not been a paragon of efficiency and good judgment, and for that reason, it’s understandable that the legislation, which has its roots in a failed reform effort last year, disbands it and creates a new one as of June 1.

But in recent months, Governor Hogan has replaced most of the members, and the group has a new executive director. Whether that will solve the problem, time will tell, but going forward with the plan to blow up the commission will certainly create new ones. It would stall for six months all progress on new applications and licensing. Given that the new commission chairman believes it will take a year to even put out a new application — and we certainly hope he and his fellow commissioners will do everything they can to speed that up — we can’t afford more delays.

Finally, the idea some have floated to speed up the process by picking new licensees from the pool of those firms whose applications ranked highly last time is a bad idea. The previous application included no information about race or ethnicity, and even if that could be corrected, it makes little sense to argue that the previous commission botched the process and then to base subsequent decisions on its work. We’ll get the best outcome in terms of fairness and in terms of providing for the needs of consumers by starting over.

 

[Baron23]

I love that euphemism....pure Washington Post...a "leg up"...is that what a special interest group set aside is now called? Pretty soon our language will be an entirely meaningless set of metaphors and euphemisms.

This is going to end up in court. I'm not a lawyer and would appreciate someone who is weighing in with a more informed view but, the bottom line is that they are saying that they have determined that there his historical discrimination all across Maryland that justifies race based set asides. This is the answer that was desired so that they can issue more licenses to black owned companies and get Cheryl Glenn off of their asses

Now, this strikes me as bit problematic as it establishes that there is NO commerce within the state of Maryland for which the state does not have justification to interfere and issue rules, regulations, etc to favor minorities. Nothing is beyond the pale with this reading of the situation and this will end up in court, IMO.

As far as I am aware...and again...I'm not a legal professional...but the standard for affirmative action (which is what this is) was that there was evidence of historical discrimination in the particular area or industry in question. Not commerce in the state as a whole.

Hogan, our R Governor, is happy cause he doesn't give a crap about this long term. He's up for re-election this year in a very blue state and will go to some great lengths to defuse any sort of criticism of racial insensitivity (really, just criticism for failing to suck up and provide special treatment to rich black Marylander's...and the will be rich....$10M minimum table stakes to open as a cultivator ensures that).

All of which is just pork barrel politics and nothing to do with sound governance, IMO.


Report: Maryland can give minorities a leg-up in entering legal marijuana market

Discrimination in Maryland’s broader business climate would justify giving minority and women-owned businesses preferences for entering the state-regulated medical marijuana market, according to a report released Wednesday.

The long-awaited report, ordered by Gov. Larry Hogan (R), gives lawmakers the justification they need to pass legislation to help more minorities break into the industry.

Pending legislation would set aside five new marijuana cultivation licenses for minority-owned businesses and put a pause on any other new licenses for as long as a decade.

None of the 14 companies licensed to grow cannabis for medical purposes in Maryland’s are led by black executives. That enraged lawmakers who said it was unfair that African Americans were disproportionately locked up on marijuana charges, compared to the overall populations, but were getting fewer opportunities to profit from the legal industry.

[Battling racial barriers to join legal marijuana trade]

While the 2014 law legalizing medical marijuana called for regulators to seek diversity in licensing growers, the Maryland Medical Marijuana Commission did not consider race or ethnicity after receiving legal advice that said it would be illegal to do so without evidence of disparities.

After a political brawl ensued, and lawmakers failed last year to reach a compromise on overhauling the medical marijuana industry, Hogan ordered a disparity study.

The consultant, economist Jon Wainwright, didn’t specifically examine Maryland’s medical marijuana companies or the application process. Instead, he examined whether an earlier study finding widespread disparities in business opportunities for minorities in Maryland could be applicable to the medical marijuana industry.

He concluded that it was.

“Absent such affirmative remedial efforts by the State, I would expect to see evidence in the relevant markets in which the medical cannabis licensees will operate that is consistent with the continued presence of business discrimination,” Wainwright wrote.

But he cautioned that he is not a lawyer and could not say which race-conscious measures to expand the medical marijuana market are legal.

Medical marijuana went on sale in December at a limited number of dispensaries after years of delays. Supply is low and prices are high while most growers are still working to get their product ready for market.

 

[Baron23]

Well, this is the 'diversity study' that will be used by Maryland to award additional licenses to black citizens as an affirmative action. This was a forgone conclusion in this very blue state with an election this year to include one for a popular red Governor

http://mmcc.maryland.gov/Documents/2018DisparityStudyforMDCannabisIndustry.pdf


However, NOWHERE in this so-called study (really a review of data from other studies) do the author address the results of the initial competition for licenses and the results of that competition in terms of classes of identity. However, this data is existent and posted on the Maryland MJ commission site, here:

http://mmcc.maryland.gov/Pages/current-diversity-statistics.aspx

Here is the present industry demographics presented in fine detail:

http://mmcc.maryland.gov/Documents/Preliminary Industry Demographic Data.docx (1).pdf


This has everything to do with election politics and nothing to do with sound policy. I'm still looking for the discrimination in the actual numbers of the current ownership and employees of MD MMJ industry....I just don't see where such remediation is called for. But, as said, there is reality and then there is politics.

 

[Baron23]

Maryland's Top Federal Prosecutor Will Not Go After Medical Marijuana Growers

The acting U.S. Attorney for Maryland Steve Schenning has decided he will not go after those involved in the Maryland medical marijuana industry.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has directed federal prosecutors to decide for themselves whether or not they enforce federal marijuana laws in Maryland where medical marijuana is legal. Dispensaries have been opening the last few weeks.

Schenning told The Daily Record medical marijuana is lawful in Maryland and he does not plan on bringing anti-drug charges against medical marijuana growers.

However, Schenning will charge people with those federal laws if they are also charged with serious crimes like murder.

 

[Baron23]

Just posted the section on MMJ. Can read the entire article by following link in title.

Federal actions to factor into Maryland policies this year

Cannabis conundrum
Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington, predicted Maryland's new medical marijuana program would be a topic of discussion again this year, but federal dictates could affect that as well.

One of the first bills to be filed this year would reorganize the state's cannabis commission, which issues licenses to grow and distribute medical marijuana. Busch said it would be a priority this year to pass the bill.

He noted that Gov. Larry Hogan had funded a disparity study last year that looked at why minority-owned businesses appeared to be left out when initial licenses were issued. The new bill would require the commission to evaluate the study and encourage participation by "small, minority, and women business owners."

But Hogan noted Wednesday that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' statement that he would rescind an Obama-era policy of not interfering with states that have legalized cannabis could cause problems for Maryland, where "millions have been invested" in starting up the medical marijuana program.

Hogan directed Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to look into the matter, but Frosh said last week that what affect the policy change would have is still unknown.

Although Parrott thought there might be a push to legalize recreational marijuana as some other states have, Miller said Wednesday that this won't be the year.

"We want to get medical marijuana settled before we consider legalization," he said.

But he did see the potential for taxing cannabis as a source of revenue. Marijuana possession was decriminalized in Maryland in 2014, meaning the penalty for possessing a small amount of the drug was reduced.

 

[Baron23]

AACC professor pursuing credit-bearing cannabis program

Three years ago, assistant professor Shad Ewart launched a course on the emerging business of medical marijuana at Anne Arundel Community College.

The course was offered in response to student demand, he said. Now Ewart sees another demand, this time from the industry — a demand for skilled entry-level workers to help grow, process and sell cannabis.

“They absolutely want qualified workers to work for them,” Ewart said.

To meet that demand, Ewart is proposing a credit-bearing certificate program at the college to train students for entry-level jobs in the medical cannabis industry.

Tony Toskov, founder of the soon-to-open dispensary Green Point Wellness in Linthicum, said there is a need for such a program. If he had a stack of five resumes, he would call the person with the certificate first because it would show that they’re seriously interested in the industry. He thinks other employers would likely feel the same way.

“There’s always a need for people to be educated in a new industry, whether it’s engineering, working at a restaurant and especially this industry. It’s new to Maryland,” he said.

Shad Ewart, Chair and Assistant Professor of Anne Arundel Community College's Business Management School of Business and Law, teaches a cannabis class and is hoping to expand the program.

(Paul W. Gillespie)
Ewart has many hoops to jump through before such a program becomes reality. So far, he has secured approval from the dean of the School of Business and Law to hold a cannabis industry focus group in the next four to six weeks.

He’ll figure out exactly what the employers are looking for, he said, and from there he’ll build a program that meets those needs.

“I’m going to turn to them and say, ‘You tell me what you want out of a graduate, and I will deliver that graduate to you,’ ” he said.

As for the program’s curriculum, Ewart said he thinks he can rely on many current offerings. Once he learns from the focus group what knowledge and skills the workers will need, he can figure out which existing classes match up.

“I think for the growers, they’re probably going to want somebody with a background in horticulture or botany. Well, we already have those courses,” he said.

In Maryland, the people selling medical cannabis need to be aware of addiction issues, Ewart said. The college already offers classes on that subject. He is assuming chemistry will be important for the people processing cannabis to make concentrates. That’s another thing the school already has.

“And if we have to develop new ones, we’ll develop those as well for the program,” he said.

To Ewart, who also chairs the college’s Business Management Department, one of the most important aspects of the potential program is it would be credit-bearing. That means he needs to gain approval at the department level, then from the school’s Educational Planning and Curriculum Committee, then the body of the whole, then the college’s board of trustees, and finally the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

“There are some fine noncredit programs out there, but they are not going to have to meet those standards that we have to meet here at Anne Arundel,” he said.

The college’s vice president of learning, Mike Gavin, commended Ewart’s initiative.

“Our faculty are always looking for new opportunities to provide our students with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce, and Professor Ewart’s efforts here are another great example of that,” Gavin said in a statement.

Ewart is aware of the resistance some people have to the idea of a marijuana business class, let alone an entire program. The Capital published a Letter to the Editor after he first launched his course that says, “What better way to snow the public than to keep them stoned on drugs?”

Ewart has the letter posted on the door to his office, next to an AACC sticker and a sheet of paper with the title “Medical Cannabis in Maryland: Learn about the GREEN RUSH.”

“There is always resistance. This is a plant and a medicine that has been conflated because of the recreational use,” he said.

In his class, they don’t use words like “weed” or “pot,” he said. He tells the students the clothing they wear and their haircuts matter when they’re representing the industry.

“Is that fair? Probably not. But that’s what we’re dealing with in this industry, and I think that’s going to be a challenge for a long time to come.”

The easy customers will be people who are already self-medicating with cannabis purchased illegally, he said. The difficult sell will be the 89-year-old man with back problems who grew up in an era where you “just said no.”

“He has to be convinced that this is a viable options for him. Not that it’s the be-all, end-all drug, but simply that doctors should have more options and patients should have more choices,” Ewart said.

 

[Baron23]

Well, Maryland's commission met last week and voted in another eight final dispensary licenses bringing us up to 30 finals out of 102 prelim licenses issued.

You can tell the newly added ones as they will have -18 in their license number vice -17 (e.g. D-18-00004)



Licensed Dispensaries (As of January 29, 2017)

1.Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary (Allegany County)
License No.: D-17-00005
100 Beall Street
Cumberland, MD 21502

2. Altpharm LLC (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-18-00004
4710 Auth Place, Suite 595
Suitland, MD 20746

3. Chesapeake Alternatives LLC (dba Rise Bethesda) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-000010
10401 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 210
Bethesda, MD 20814

4. Cannabus LLC (dba Potomac Holistics) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00003
14808 Physicians Lane, Suite 212
Rockville, MD 20850

5. Charm City Medicus (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00013
717 North Point Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21224

6. Euphoria Wellness Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-18-00001
11717 Old National Pike
New Market, MD 21774

7. Freestate Partners LLC (dba Revolution Releaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00015
9994 Washington Blvd. N.
Laurel, MD 20723

8. Freestate Wellness LLC) (dba Zen Leaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00019
7221 Montevideo Road, Suite 150
Jessup, MD 20794

9. G & J Pharmaceuticals LLC (dba Greenwave Maryland) (Calvert County)
License No.: D-18-00007
10 Creston Lane #4
Solomons, MD 20688

10. GPD LLC (dba Green Point Wellness) (Anne Arundel County)
License No.: D-18-00003
823 A Elkridge Landing Road
Linthicum, MD 21090

11. Growing Ventures LLC (dba Greenhouse Wellness) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00009
4801 Dorsey Hall Drive, Suite 110
Ellicott City, MD 21042

12. GTI Maryland LLC (dba Rise Silver Spring) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00007
7900 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910

13. Harvest of Maryland Dispensary LLC (dba Harvest) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00017
12200 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

14. Herbiculture INC (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00008
4009 Sandy Spring Road
Burtonsville, MD 20866

15. Hippocratic Growth (dba Ash & Ember) (Queen Anne’s County)
License No.: D-18-00005
202 Coursevail Drive, Suite 109
Centreville, MD 21617

16. Holistic Industries, LLC (dba Liberty) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00002
12001 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852

17. K & R Holdings INC (dba Kannavis) (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00002
3362 Urbana Pike
Ijamesville, MD 21754

18. Maryland Compassionate Care & Wellness (dba Herbalogy) (Montgomery)
License No.: D-17-00011
106 N. Frederick Avenue
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

19. Maryland Wellness Access LLC (dba Remedy Columbia) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00008
6656-E Dobbin Road
Columbia, MD 21046

20. Maryleaf LLC (dba Bloom Medicinals) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00018
11530 Middlebrook Road
Germantown, MD 20876

21. MCNA Wellness LLC (dba Haven) (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-17-00021
7501 Clymer Drive
Brandywine, MD 20613

22. Medical Products & Services LLC (dba Maggies) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00020
3317 Keswick Road
Baltimore, MD 21611

23. Nature’s Care & Wellness LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-17-00012
4925 Pulaski Highway, Suite A
Perryville, MD 211111903

24. Peninsula Alternative Health LLC (Wicomico County)
License No: D-17-00006
400 Snow Hill Road
Salisbury, MD 21804

25. PharmaKent LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-18-00006
330 East Pulaski Highway
Elkton, MD 21921

26. Positive Energy LLC (Worcester County)
License No.: D-17-00022
9939 Jerry Mack Road, Suite 500
Ocean City, MD 219842

27. PureLifeMedical INC (dba PureLifeWellness) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00016
35 East Cross Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

28. Southern Maryland Relief LLC (St. Mary’s County)
License No.: D-17-00004
28105 Tree Notch Road, Suite 1D
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

29. Temescal Wellness of Maryland LLC (dba Temescal Wellness) (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00014
1636 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, MD 21208

30. Wellness Institute of Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00001
4606 Wedgewood Boulevard
Frederick, MD 21703

 

[Baron23]

Well, I don't think a constitutional amendment is going to get on the ballot at all this next year, but that's just my opinion. Still worth doing, I think.

The working link for sending letter/email to your MD representative is:

http://action.mpp.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=24193



Maryland legislative session begins with cannabis policy on the agenda

Click here to ask your representatives to let the people of Maryland decide whether to tax and regulate marijuana.

Dear Stephen,

Maryland’s legislative session began earlier this month, and there are several cannabis policy issues already on the agenda. The Coalition is excited to announce that we are supporting an effort to let the people of Maryland decide whether the state should tax and regulate cannabis for adults; please ask your lawmakers to support this effort!


Unlike many other states, Maryland citizens can’t collect signatures to put an issue on the ballot.* In order for the people to vote on an issue, lawmakers must pass a bill that puts a constitutional amendment on the ballot. We hope that Maryland lawmakers will allow voters to put an end to the ineffective, costly, and unfair policy of cannabis prohibition and replace it with a system that allows adults to lawfully consume a substance that is safer than alcohol.


In other news, the legislative black caucus introduced a bill that would license additional businesses that could go to women and minority-owned businesses in light of a disparity study that found these groups were at a disadvantage in the licensing processes. And Sen. Bobby Zirkin, chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, has introduced bills that would expand Maryland’s decriminalization law, SB 127 and SB 128.


Want to do more than just email your lawmakers in support of ending cannabis prohibition? Please sign up for our Lobby Day on February 7, hosted by Maryland NORML.


In solidarity,


Maryland Cannabis Policy Coalition


*Except if they want to overturn a bill passed by the legislature, as advocates unsuccessfully attempted to do with the bill that legalized gay marriage in Maryland.

 

[nosmoking]

Well, Maryland's commission met last week and voted in another eight final dispensary licenses bringing us up to 30 finals out of 102 prelim licenses issued.

You can tell the newly added ones as they will have -18 in their license number vice -17 (e.g. D-18-00004)



Licensed Dispensaries (As of January 29, 2017)

1.Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary (Allegany County)
License No.: D-17-00005
100 Beall Street
Cumberland, MD 21502

2. Altpharm LLC (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-18-00004
4710 Auth Place, Suite 595
Suitland, MD 20746

3. Chesapeake Alternatives LLC (dba Rise Bethesda) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-000010
10401 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 210
Bethesda, MD 20814

4. Cannabus LLC (dba Potomac Holistics) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00003
14808 Physicians Lane, Suite 212
Rockville, MD 20850

5. Charm City Medicus (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00013
717 North Point Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21224

6. Euphoria Wellness Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-18-00001
11717 Old National Pike
New Market, MD 21774

7. Freestate Partners LLC (dba Revolution Releaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00015
9994 Washington Blvd. N.
Laurel, MD 20723

8. Freestate Wellness LLC) (dba Zen Leaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00019
7221 Montevideo Road, Suite 150
Jessup, MD 20794

9. G & J Pharmaceuticals LLC (dba Greenwave Maryland) (Calvert County)
License No.: D-18-00007
10 Creston Lane #4
Solomons, MD 20688

10. GPD LLC (dba Green Point Wellness) (Anne Arundel County)
License No.: D-18-00003
823 A Elkridge Landing Road
Linthicum, MD 21090

11. Growing Ventures LLC (dba Greenhouse Wellness) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00009
4801 Dorsey Hall Drive, Suite 110
Ellicott City, MD 21042

12. GTI Maryland LLC (dba Rise Silver Spring) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00007
7900 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910

13. Harvest of Maryland Dispensary LLC (dba Harvest) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00017
12200 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

14. Herbiculture INC (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00008
4009 Sandy Spring Road
Burtonsville, MD 20866

15. Hippocratic Growth (dba Ash & Ember) (Queen Anne’s County)
License No.: D-18-00005
202 Coursevail Drive, Suite 109
Centreville, MD 21617

16. Holistic Industries, LLC (dba Liberty) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00002
12001 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852

17. K & R Holdings INC (dba Kannavis) (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00002
3362 Urbana Pike
Ijamesville, MD 21754

18. Maryland Compassionate Care & Wellness (dba Herbalogy) (Montgomery)
License No.: D-17-00011
106 N. Frederick Avenue
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

19. Maryland Wellness Access LLC (dba Remedy Columbia) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00008
6656-E Dobbin Road
Columbia, MD 21046

20. Maryleaf LLC (dba Bloom Medicinals) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00018
11530 Middlebrook Road
Germantown, MD 20876

21. MCNA Wellness LLC (dba Haven) (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-17-00021
7501 Clymer Drive
Brandywine, MD 20613

22. Medical Products & Services LLC (dba Maggies) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00020
3317 Keswick Road
Baltimore, MD 21611

23. Nature’s Care & Wellness LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-17-00012
4925 Pulaski Highway, Suite A
Perryville, MD 211111903

24. Peninsula Alternative Health LLC (Wicomico County)
License No: D-17-00006
400 Snow Hill Road
Salisbury, MD 21804

25. PharmaKent LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-18-00006
330 East Pulaski Highway
Elkton, MD 21921

26. Positive Energy LLC (Worcester County)
License No.: D-17-00022
9939 Jerry Mack Road, Suite 500
Ocean City, MD 219842

27. PureLifeMedical INC (dba PureLifeWellness) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00016
35 East Cross Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

28. Southern Maryland Relief LLC (St. Mary’s County)
License No.: D-17-00004
28105 Tree Notch Road, Suite 1D
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

29. Temescal Wellness of Maryland LLC (dba Temescal Wellness) (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00014
1636 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, MD 21208

30. Wellness Institute of Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00001
4606 Wedgewood Boulevard
Frederick, MD 21703

We have seen some bid requests come through our office for the glass storefronts/doors in many of these dispenseries. I had to bid on a couple just in hopes that they might pay us in MMJ!

 

[OldOyler]

But he did see the potential for taxing cannabis as a source of revenue.

Funny.

That part is ALWAYS crystal clear to them...

Peace!

 

[Baron23]

Funny.

That part is ALWAYS crystal clear to them...

Peace!

Ain't that the truth. LOL

 

[Baron23]

Well, first...that's my Doc pictured below. Rather like Dr. Frye. Second....these idiots in the newspapers just can't get anything right. In MD, Dr. do NOT prescribe a damn thing under any circumstances. They ONLY certify that you have a qualifying condition. While its helpful for many patients, older or without any rec background, to discuss dosing, timing, etc, there is NO prescription. THIS is one way that Dr's are shielded from the Feds and Sessions.

Also, just because its a medical program doesn't mean that the product needs to be viewed like a pharma drug with specific titrated doses and specific usage frequency and timing. This is an herbal remedy often used in lieu of pharma and the comparison to prescription is often not applicable IMO.


Many doctors are wary of medical marijuana. And Jeff Sessions hasn’t helped.

Dr. Patricia Frye chats with an older patient who had tried many traditional remedies for a variety of ailments with no success. After a consultation she was able to prescribe some options using medical marijuana. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)


Gene Ransom’s day was ruined within minutes of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ announcement that he was giving federal prosecutors more freedom to go after marijuana transactions in states that have legalized medical cannabis.

“Our phones just blew up,” said Ransom, the head the Maryland State Medical Society. “We must have had 400 physicians calling to ask us what this was going to mean.”

Sessions’ Jan. 4 bombshell came just a month after Maryland launched its own medical marijuana program, further roiling a health care community struggling with how—or even whether—to bring pot into mainstream practice.

Already nervous, some doctors who had signed up promptly backed out when Sessions reversed the hands-off policy of the Obama era.

“I know of two who had already registered who decided not to take the risk after all,” Ransom said. “One of them had already written recommendations for several patients.”

The problem isn’t limited to Maryland, one of 28 states that has legalized medical cannabis. The reluctance of doctors, particularly on the East Coast, to embrace medical marijuana has become the final and highest hurdle in the push to normalize the drug, advocates say.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania have both reported physician resistance. In New York, only 1,200 of the state’s 97,000 licensed doctors have registered to offer cannabis, according to state officials. In Massachusetts, just 218 doctors have registered three years into the program, limiting the number of patients able to gain access to state-certified dispensaries.

“I think it has been a huge impediment,” said Nichole Snow, president of the Massachusetts Patients Advocacy Alliance.

In Maryland, the top federal prosecutor, acting U.S. Attorney Steve Schenning, told a legal publication last week that he had no plans to go after growers, dispensaries and physicians in the state-sanctioned system. But the uncertainty remains, chilling an already reluctant community of doctors.

Almost 20,000 patients have registered with the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission, the first step in gaining access to legal marijuana. Next they must find a registered doctor to recommend it, and then go to an approved dispensary—there are now 22 open statewide, —to buy it. But with 200 to 400 new patient online applications arriving a day, the number of doctors signing up has “flatlined” at just under 700, according to a commission official, leading some to fear that finding a doctor is going to be hard for some patients.

The Sessions scare isn’t the only reason some docs are hesitant. Many already stay away on principle, seeing no reason to reassess marijuana’s street-drug rep. Others work for corporate practices or hospitals that aren’t ready to touch the stuff.

But physicians willing to make the jump are confronted by the purple haze of uncertainty that surrounds a medicine that wasn’t taught in med school.

“It’s a product that most doctors don’t know anything about,” said Ehsan Abdeshahian, a Waldorf-based pain specialist appointed to the cannabis commission in July by Gov. Larry Hogan (R). “The priority now is to educate the providers.”

Dr. Patricia Frye has a collection books, articles and medical studies about the use of medical marijuana. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Abdeshahian is leading the commission’s plan for an online program to answer as many questions as they can for eligible providers, which includes physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, podiatrists and dentists. A bill currently before the legislature would add physician assistants to the list.

Unlike most pharmaceuticals, cannabis didn’t arrive with an FDA pedigree of clinic trials, dosage guidelines and a list of specific uses. That work is beginning to be done, advocates say, but as the patient rolls swell, many providers are stymied by some basic questions: Is it really safe? Is it actually effective? Is it truly legal?

“I don’t think we’re ready for it,” said Gary Pushkin, an orthopedic surgeon in Baltimore for the last 34 years. He’s waiting for science to back up claims by advocates—and a growing number of patients—that cannabis can help with seizures, nausea, wasting, anxiety, cancer and host of other ills. It’s all anecdotal until the data is in, he said.

“It seems we’re being driven by YouTube videos now,” said Pushkin said.

Puskin serves as the president of the Maryland State Medical Society, the state’s largest doctors association. He opposed medical marijuana during the long debate before the state legislature, but the group itself stayed neutral.

“Our members are just like the public, they are split on the issue,” said Ransom.

But now that Maryland’s program has launched — more than four years after being signed into law — the group is working to make it as orderly as possible for the doctors who want to participate. And one the of biggest quandaries for providers who may get a third or more of their income from Medicare or other federal sources: Sussing out the legal risk of prescribing a drug still outlawed by the federal government.

Mathew Mintz, a longtime internist at George Washington University Medical School who recently set up his own practice in Bethesda, said liability fears are a big reason most of his peers are still wary of the cannabis program. But he decided it was worth the risk and has written about a dozen recommendations for patients in the last month.

[You can get weed delivered to your door in D.C. just like pizza. But is it legal?]

“I’ve really been impressed with how medical marijuana has changed the lives of people with chronic conditions,” Mintz said, citing cases of anxiety and insomnia he has witnessed.

Mintz is eager for researchers to backfill some of the healing claims made about cannabis, but he’s confident that the drug is safe enough for many patients to at least try.

“The more we learn about it, the more we understand that it’s a non-addictive substance that’s probably safer than alcohol,” he said. “It’s probably safer than Tylenol.”

Still, the process is far less precise than scribbling in Latin on a prescription pad, knowing the pharmacist will fill the order down to the milligram and type exact directions on the label.

Dr. Patricia Frye hold an inhaler that subjects can use to ingest their medical marijuana. Many patients use the weed vaporizers as a safer and more discreet way to use marijuana. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Like many participating doctors, Mintz consults with his patients, decides if they might benefit and then largely leaves it up to the dispensary to come up with a dose and type of cannabis to try. They are the experts in this still fledgling field of cannabinoids, tinctures, flower strains, vaping and edibles.

“I tell my patients to talk to the dispensary,” Mintz says. “I just recommend that they don’t smoke anything.”

That puts him at odds with some in the dispensary field, who want the doctors to be as specific as possible about the what the patient needs.

“The doctors are looking to us to provide the patient with specifics on the different strains,” said William Askinazi, co-owner of Potomac Holistics in Rockville. “We can do that, but we don’t venture into the more traditional medical areas of the underlying illnesses.”

Some doctors are far more comfortable making specific recommendations, but even they have to navigate a system can feel more ancient apothecary than modern pharmaceutical.

Patricia Frye’ s clinic in Takoma Park is geared specifically to elderly patients who are eager to try cannabis but aren’t looking to get high. On a January morning, an elderly couple and their adult daughter face Frye across her desk.

The mother, 79, sits, sometimes squirming in discomfort, as her family describes her case: years of abdominal pain, anxiety, lethargy, poor sleeping, low appetite, hallucinations. She has been hospitalized multiple times, and Frye takes notes on the range of medications she’s on.

“We’ve tried everything,” said her the daughter, who asked not to be named to protect her mother’s privacy. She had a friend who said she was helped dramatically by cannabis so the woman registered her mother and persuaded her reluctant parents to give it a try.

After giving them a quick primer on marijuana as medicine, Frye writes a recommendation for the woman: 10 mg of CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabinoid and, at bedtime, 2.5 mg of THC, the one that makes you sleepy (and buzzed). She’d like her to have both in tincture form, placed under the tongue. But she can’t be sure what the dispensary has available. Gauging the amounts present in various strains is far from exact.

“Have them call me,” she tells them. “I will talk it through with them.”

The family leaves, still having to register with the state as caregivers so they will be allowed to buy cannabis for the mother. Up next is negotiating the shifting inventories of buds and oils and edibles .

Their session with Frye cost $250, which is not covered by most insurance. The daughter was pleased.

“There are so many complexities,” she said. “It’s good to feel like we have a doctor who is our advocate.”

 

[Baron23]

30 dispensaries now have final licenses (out of 102 prelim that were issued). They are shown below.

Also, I'm starting to see more cultivators/brands/strains showing up but still slowly...very slowly. Also, I'm seeing a bit of improvement in quality and got some rocking high THC Blue Cheese and Gelato I'm looking forward to vaping (once I can breath again...got a cold haha)


Licensed Dispensaries (As of January 29, 2017)

1.Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary (Allegany County)
License No.: D-17-00005
100 Beall Street
Cumberland, MD 21502

2. Altpharm LLC (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-18-00004
4710 Auth Place, Suite 595
Suitland, MD 20746

3. Chesapeake Alternatives LLC (dba Rise Bethesda) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-000010
10401 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 210
Bethesda, MD 20814

4. Cannabus LLC (dba Potomac Holistics) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00003
14808 Physicians Lane, Suite 212
Rockville, MD 20850

5. Charm City Medicus (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00013
717 North Point Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21224

6. Euphoria Wellness Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-18-00001
11717 Old National Pike
New Market, MD 21774

7. Freestate Partners LLC (dba Revolution Releaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00015
9994 Washington Blvd. N.
Laurel, MD 20723

8. Freestate Wellness LLC) (dba Zen Leaf) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00019
7221 Montevideo Road, Suite 150
Jessup, MD 20794

9. G & J Pharmaceuticals LLC (dba Greenwave Maryland) (Calvert County)
License No.: D-18-00007
10 Creston Lane #4
Solomons, MD 20688

10. GPD LLC (dba Green Point Wellness) (Anne Arundel County)
License No.: D-18-00003
823 A Elkridge Landing Road
Linthicum, MD 21090

11. Growing Ventures LLC (dba Greenhouse Wellness) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00009
4801 Dorsey Hall Drive, Suite 110
Ellicott City, MD 21042

12. GTI Maryland LLC (dba Rise Silver Spring) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00007
7900 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, MD 20910

13. Harvest of Maryland Dispensary LLC (dba Harvest) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00017
12200 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852

14. Herbiculture INC (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00008
4009 Sandy Spring Road
Burtonsville, MD 20866

15. Hippocratic Growth (dba Ash + Ember) (Queen Anne’s County)
License No.: D-18-00005
202 Coursevall Drive, Suite 108
Centreville, MD 21617

16. Holistic Industries, LLC (dba Liberty) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-18-00002
12001 Nebel Street
Rockville, MD 20852

17. K & R Holdings INC (dba Kannavis) (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00002
3362 Urbana Pike
Ijamesville, MD 21754

18. Maryland Compassionate Care & Wellness (dba Herbalogy) (Montgomery)
License No.: D-17-00011
106 N. Frederick Avenue
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

19. Maryland Wellness Access LLC (dba Remedy Columbia) (Howard County)
License No.: D-17-00008
6656-E Dobbin Road
Columbia, MD 21046

20. Maryleaf LLC (dba Bloom Medicinals) (Montgomery County)
License No.: D-17-00018
11530 Middlebrook Road
Germantown, MD 20876

21. MCNA Wellness LLC (dba Haven) (Prince George’s County)
License No.: D-17-00021
7501 Clymer Drive
Brandywine, MD 20613

22. Medical Products & Services LLC (dba Maggies) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00020
3317 Keswick Road
Baltimore, MD 21611

23. Nature’s Care & Wellness LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-17-00012
4925 Pulaski Highway, Suite A
Perryville, MD 211111903

24. Peninsula Alternative Health LLC (Wicomico County)
License No: D-17-00006
400 Snow Hill Road
Salisbury, MD 21804

25. PharmaKent LLC (Cecil County)
License No.: D-18-00006
330 East Pulaski Highway
Elkton, MD 21921

26. Positive Energy LLC (Worcester County)
License No.: D-17-00022
9939 Jerry Mack Road, Suite 500
Ocean City, MD 219842

27. PureLifeMedical INC (dba PureLifeWellness) (Baltimore City)
License No.: D-17-00016
35 East Cross Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

28. Southern Maryland Relief LLC (St. Mary’s County)
License No.: D-17-00004
28105 Tree Notch Road, Suite 1D
Mechanicsville, MD 20659

29. Temescal Wellness of Maryland LLC (dba Temescal Wellness) (Baltimore County)
License No.: D-17-00014
1636 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, MD 21208

30. Wellness Institute of Maryland (Frederick County)
License No.: D-17-00001
4606 Wedgewood Boulevard
Frederick, MD 21703

 

[Baron23]

ooooh, years after intro'ing his MMJ bill, he had a conflict of interest by consulting with a dispensary....one dispensary out of 102 license. One store front. No growers or processors which is where the big money is. Me....don't care about that a wit...I am grateful to him for pushing MD's MMJ program to fruition and he is a large part of the reasons that I can now walk into a dispensary and get the medical grade cannabis I need. So fuck the scandal chasing media...this man is one of my personal heroes.


Dan Morhaim, who helped usher medical marijuana into Maryland then ran into controversy, is retiring


By Rachel Siegel, The Washington Post

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland Del. Dan Morhaim will not seek another term in the General Assembly, ending a 24-year run in which he championed legislation for health and environmental causes, including helping to launch the state’s medical marijuana program, and recently made headlines for his ties to that industry, which resulted in a political conflict of interest.

Morhaim, a Democrat from Baltimore County who would be 70 at the start of next year’s legislative session, said Monday that he and his wife decided four years ago that he would not seek another term. He said his major accomplishments included crafting Maryland’s medical marijuana program, expanding addiction treatment, and creating a statewide organ donation system and electronics recycling program.

An emergency room physician, Morhaim said he will continue practicing medicine after leaving office.

“I’m committed to social and policy change,” Morhaim said. “It’s been 24 years of doing that in the House of Delegates. There are lots of ways to do that in addition to being a state legislator.”

Morhaim led the charge for Maryland’s medical cannabis program, which debuted in December after nearly five years of delays.

He first introduced medical marijuana legislation in 2003, long before he forged business ties with the industry as a paid consultant to a prospective dispensary – a relationship he did not publicly disclose until a Washington Post story in 2016.

Related stories

• Maryland cannabis businesses cleared of conflict of interest, approved for launch
• Is it time to just scrap the Maryland medical marijuana program and start over?
• Maryland lawmaker, chastised by ethics committee, apologizes for not revealing marijuana biz ties
• Bringing in an outside lawyer is ‘very, very unusual.’ But that’s what’s happening in Maryland over MMJ drama
• Lawmaker scrutinized over Maryland medical marijuana ties removed from key panel

Morhaim was subsequently removed from the health committee overseeing medical marijuana legislation and investigated by the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics, which concluded he had violated the principles of state ethics laws by using his influence to engage with the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and push policies that could have benefited the dispensary, Doctor’s Orders.

Morhaim was reprimanded by the House of Delegates and said he would end his relationships with the dispensary and cannabis regulators and stop working on medical marijuana legislation.

When asked about the launch of the medical marijuana program, Morhaim said it had “been a long time coming” and that he was always motivated by thousands of patients who suffered without safe access to the drug.

He declined to comment further, saying he had his “own perspective, and someday I’ll be happy to share, but not now.”

In a Facebook statement, Morhaim wrote that in his first term, the family of a young girl born with a cleft lip and palate asked him to introduce legislation that eventually passed and required health insurance companies to pay for surgical repairs of that condition. He also oversaw bills supporting colon cancer screenings and improving end-of-life care by promoting advance directives.

“So much of what I was seeing in the emergency room was from social issues,” Morhaim said. “For most of the patients I was seeing, there was often a social antecedent to them being in the emergency room.”

Morhaim also rallied around environmental causes, introducing legislation to protect Maryland’s coastal bays from overdevelopment and creating a statewide electronics recycling system. His legislation also required green building construction, which reduced utility expenses and pollution.

 

[Baron23]

What this is about is that currently dispensaries can only sell MJ pre-packed by cultivators and cannot have mason jars of MJ on hand and directly weigh out and sell cannabis. Not sure how many dispensaries are going to want to do this given the liability for screwing it up, but I think this is a good progressive move


Commission Guidance to Dispensaries Offering "Deli-Style" Sales

Linthicum, MD (January 29, 2018) - The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and the Maryland Department of Agriculture have collaborated . on efforts to provide this guidance document for licensed dispensaries opting to sell medical cannabis "deli-style" to registered patients. Deli-Style sale defined as: 'Over the counter transaction between a licensed dispensary and a registered patient or caregiver involving determinations of quantity; a direct sale where the buyer and seller are both present. Deli-style sales to Medical Cannabis patients in Maryland must adhere to these guidelines. This Bulletin does not change, remove or replace any existing regulations under COMAR 10.62

1. The Dispensary must develop a written Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) specifically addressing all aspects of Deli-Style sales including, but not limited to, product reception, patient selection methods of product, product weighing, location, labeling and repackaging in accordance with this bulletin and COMAR 10.62 regulations.
2. Scales and equipment must adhere to the Department of Agriculture "Guidelines for Purchasing a Scale to be used in Direct Sale Applications". This document provides all necessary information required for compliance with the Code of Maryland Regulations. The document, included as an attachment to this bulletin, can be downloaded from the MMCC website (www.mmcc.maryland.gov) under the Helpful Forms tab.
3. Equipment must be sanitized and maintained in accordance with COMAR 10.62.28.05
4. Dispensaries will note the requirements of Dept. of Agriculture # 3 and COMAR 10.62.29.01 F need to occur simultaneously. Appropriate location, security and records will need to be maintained throughout the selection, repackaging and dispensing of the individual transactions.
5. Final product packaging must meet all requirement in COMAR 10.62.24 and 10.62.29.
6. All Dispensaries must remain in compliance with all regulations in COMAR 10.62.

PRIOR TO INITIATING DELI-STYLE SALES DISPENSARIES MUST OBTAIN A REVIEW AND WRITTEN APPROVAL FROM THE MARYLAND MEDICAL CANNABIS COMMISSION.

The MMCC will conduct an onsite review to Assure all requirements in the "Guidelines for Purchasing a Scale to be used in Direct Sale Applications" are met.

Assure all above requirements in the MMCC bulletin are met.

Perform a review of the intended work space and equipment for Deli-Style sales.

Observe a complete deli--style transaction.

Provide written certification and approval of the MMCC to offer deli-style sales.

 

[Baron23]

Yeah, reciprocity between legal jurisdictions really aint' significantly getting off the ground anywhere that I'm aware of. I think they are all too worried about interstate commerce and the Feds issues but may be wrong. DC passed a reciprocity bill that was signed by the Mayor, passed the time limit for Congress to interfere, and is now law.....however, there is no regulatory structure in place and reciprocity is still not in effect.


Commission Extends Administrative Hold on Out-of-State Patient Applicants
Bulletin: 2018- 002
Effective Date: February 16, 2018

Linthicum, MD (February 16, 2018) - On October 23, 2017, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission ("'Commission'') placed a 60-day administrative hold on all out-of-state patient applications. Effective December 14, 2017, the Commission extended the administrative hold on out-of-state patient applicants until further notice. As a result of this hold, out-of-state patient applications will not be reviewed at this time, and applicants who live outside the State may not access medical cannabis at Maryland licensed dispensaries.

The Commission continues to evaluate potential regulatory changes to the medical cannabis regulations, including the definition of "qualifying patient," and public comment received in response to these potential changes. The administrative hold on out-of-state patient applicants will continue until the Commission addresses any regulatory changes that may be needed to carry out the statutory language enacted in three Acts by the General Assembly between 2013 and 2015.

Please visit the Commission's website at mmcc.maryland.gov for additional information. For patient inquiries, please contact mdh.infoandregistration@maryland.gov or 1-844-421-2571.

This bulletin does not change, remove, or replace any existing regulations under COMAR 10.62.

 

[Baron23]

"Alternative Medicine Maryland, led by New York Dr. Greg Daniels, sought to get the entire application process thrown out."

That's because he only cares about the money and fuck the patients. He really doesn't care about "diversity" either....except as it applies to getting him a race based set aside license.

By the by, read "settled" to mean that they bought him off.

Pot companies settle lawsuit that threatened to upend Maryland's medical marijuana industry
Erin CoxContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun
Maryland’s licensed marijuana growing companies announced Thursday that they settled the lawsuit that had threatened to upend the state’s new medical marijuana industry.

The settlement terms were not disclosed, but the deal ends a 16-month legal action that sought to throw out all the state licenses to grow medical marijuana and start the application process anew.

Alternative Medicine Maryland filed the lawsuit in 2016 against state regulators. It argued the state illegally ignored racial diversity when picking growers. None of the 15 companies selected to grow the drug were led by African-Americans, despite a state law that required regulators to “actively seek” racial diversity.

Alternative Medicine Maryland, led by New York Dr. Greg Daniels, sought to get the entire application process thrown out. At the same time, state lawmakers began working on plans to expand the industry to award five new growing licenses to companies with minority leadership.




The companies that won licenses to grow the drug joined the suit as defendants in order to protect their business interests. On Thursday, a trade group that represents them announced the lawsuit had been settled and withdrawn.

A lawyer for Alternative Medicine Maryland said the firm will pursue one of the new licenses the General Assembly may create this year.

Jake Van Wingerden, owner of SunMed Growers and chairman of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association, praised the resolution and said it provides stability to the medical marijuana market, which has been beset by controversy and delays.

“On behalf of the tens of thousands of patients in Maryland who have waited long enough for medical cannabis, we are pleased to announce that a settlement with AMM has been reached,” Van Wingerden said in a statement. “This development will finally allow Maryland’s medical cannabis program to move forward without the uncertainties of this litigation and costly legal proceedings, allowing licensed growers to meet the health needs of Maryland patients.”

John Pica, a lawyer and lobbyist for AMM, said the settlement gives the company the ability to focus on passing legislation to expand the industry and competing for a new license.