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MARIJUANA MOMENT
TOP MARYLAND MARIJUANA REGULATOR EXPLAINS HOW THE STATE SO QUICKLY IMPLEMENTED
SALES AFTER VOTERS APPROVED LEGALIZATION
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POLITICS
TOP MARYLAND MARIJUANA REGULATOR EXPLAINS HOW THE STATE SO QUICKLY IMPLEMENTED
SALES AFTER VOTERS APPROVED LEGALIZATION
Published
6 hours ago
on
July 19, 2023
By
Kyle Jaeger
A top Maryland marijuana regulator says the state’s proactive approach to
legalizing cannabis has allowed it to implement a system that effectively
balances three key priorities: safety, access and equity.
When the state’s legalization law took effect at the beginning of the month,
nearly 100 existing medical marijuana dispensaries were already approved to
start serving adult consumers. And a testament to the success of the rollout is
the fact that Maryland retailers sold over $10 million worth of legal cannabis
in the opening weekend.
Maryland Cannabis Administration’s (MCA) Andrew Garrison says that the state
uniquely prepared for the reform, with the legislature forming a work group well
ahead of voters approving a legalization referendum last November and officials
taking steps like visiting Colorado to tour dispensaries as they contemplated
their own regulatory framework.
There was “a lot of thoughtful consideration that went into the broader
adult-use policy when it finally got dropped,” Garrison, who serves as chief of
MCA’s Office of Policy & Government Affairs, said during an interview on the
Rootwurks and VS Strategies podcast Weed Wonks, adding that the early work by
lawmakers enabled officials to roll out a program within 82 days of the
legislature enacting a cannabis regulations bill.
Garrison also stressed the importance of ensuring that equity is a “really key
component of everything going forward.” To that end, the legalization law
created a new independent Office of Social Equity within MCA to focus on it.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) made a first series of appointments to that office on Monday.
Part of the strategy to build equity into the market is to collect licensing
conversion fees from existing dispensaries that want to serve adult consumers
and putting those dollars into a community reinvestment fund that will be used
to support new business applicants in areas of the state that have been
disproportionately impacted by prohibition. Garrison estimates that the state
will generate about $60 million in conversion fees to fulfill that goal.
The first round of new marijuana business licenses in Maryland have been
reserved exclusively for social equity applicants, which is “something that I
think builds off of and learns from what has worked in other states when
contemplating social equity,” he said.
“Maryland’s a really diverse state. And there’s a lot of there’s a lot of
communities in particular that have had this disproportionate cannabis
enforcement really up into this point,” he said. “And we want to make sure that
the folks who are getting access on the market side early before the social
equity businesses come online are—that the legislature wanted to make sure that
they paid their dues, and that that it goes to the communities that that we’re
the most disadvantaged.”
Notably, the state has also mandated that retailers further promote equity by
requiring that at least 25 percent of their shelves are stocked with cannabis
products from companies that are owned by equity licensees.
“The dispensaries will have to be stocking their products to make sure that we
don’t have just vertically integrated firms just selling their
products—continuing to make sure that there’s a path to market for these
non-vertically integrated firms,” he said. “And then that also continues back up
the supply chain as well.”
Also, the state Department of Commerce (DOC) announced last week that it will be
opening applications for $40 million in grant funding to social equity
applicants with pre-approval starting on August 1.
Regulators have already been accepting applications to provide grants through
the same fund to help existing medical marijuana businesses convert into dual
licensees that can serve the adult-use market.
Another key consideration that went into Maryland’s legalization law is patient
access, making sure that those who’ve been involved in the state’s existing
medical cannabis program don’t see their access to medicine disrupted after
adult-use sales launch.
Retailers have two options to that end: they can reserve specific hours of
operation every day exclusively for patients, or they can create “fast lanes” at
their stores where there are registers that only patients can use.
“This is an interesting piece that Maryland is also doing is, you know, while
patient access really is in the forefront, the supply chain is saying the same,”
he said. “We’re not having medical plants and adult-use plants. It’s really
going down to the point of sale.”
—
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policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters
pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and
hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to
get access.
—
As regulators monitor the first month of recreational marijuana sales, Garrison
says officials are also actively working on a “cleanup bill” to adjust
regulations that he expects will be taken up by the legislature during the next
session.
MCA will be holding what they describe internally as “limited town halls” with
stakeholder groups, including dispensaries, growers and patient advocates in
late summer and early fall to develop permanent regulations. That process will
also involve public comment periods once the draft rules are ready to be
published.
Meanwhile, a separate Maryland law also took effect this month that prevents
police from using the odor or possession of marijuana alone as the basis of a
search. Yet another law that went into force makes it so the lawful and
responsible use of cannabis by parents and guardians cannot be construed by
state officials as child “neglect.”
> Luxembourg’s Marijuana Legalization Law Will Take Effect This Week, Government
> Says
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Kyle Jaeger
Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based senior editor. His work has
also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.
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