Pubdate: Fri, 14 Nov 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Erin Cox
Page: 1

RULES ON POT MOVE AHEAD

State Commission Sets High Fees for Medical Growers, Dispensers

Maryland's medical marijuana program cleared a key hurdle Thursday as 
a state panel approved draft rules to govern the new businesses.

The medical marijuana commission set license fees for growers and 
dispensaries - at rates among the highest in the country - and 
developed rules for patients to obtain the drug in either a smokable 
or liquid form, among other new regulations.

While the rules must clear bureaucratic obstacles, Thursday's vote 
marks a significant milestone for patients who have waited years for 
the state to act. The panel has at least twice delayed approving the 
regulations, which were due nearly two months ago, and the decision 
comes during the state's second attempt in as many years to create a 
viable medical marijuana system.

The drug is not expected to be available to patients until 2016.

The panel did not create rules for the sale of edible marijuana 
products such as brownies and lollipops, saying such regulations were 
too complicated to draft in the time available.

Advocates for the long-delayed program have complained that the 
panel's planned license fees for growers and dispensaries are too 
high and might scare away small entrepreneurs. The commission decided 
Thursday to keep the fees as proposed.

"We want to make this a success for the state of Maryland, not a 
failed program because we had inadequate financing," said the 
commission chairman, Dr. Paul W. Davies. "We want to get this program 
up and running, and we want to get marijuana in the hands of 
patients. We want to have growers happy, we want to have dispensers happy."

Davies said members decided they needed to make sure the commission 
has the resources it needs to oversee a highly regulated industry. 
The proposed two-year license fees - $125,000 for growers and $40,000 
for dispensaries - are higher than any other state's except Illinois.

The panel said the fees had to be high enough to make the program 
self-sufficient, as the General Assembly required.

While some advocates have contended that the fees are too high, 
others see them as necessary to get the program off the ground.

"Would I like to pay $10,000? Gosh yes," said John Murphy, a flower 
farmer on the Eastern Shore who wants to start a marijuana-growing 
operation. "But this doesn't seem like too much for what we have to do."

John Pica, an Annapolis lobbyist who represents investors planning to 
build a dispensary and growing operation in Baltimore, said his 
clients dropped their objection to the "stiff fees" after talking 
with consultants.

"You can still be successful in Maryland because it's a highly 
regulated state," Pica said. "With only 15 growers, and the perceived 
demand, there may be plenty of business to go around."

Thursday's vote sends the regulations to Maryland Health Secretary 
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein and the state's attorney general for review 
before they are officially proposed. Another public review of the 
regulations must take place before they are formally adopted, a 
process expected to take at least a few more months.

It will be upto the next health secretary, to be appointed by 
Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan, to give final approval to the rules.

Hogan has said he would not talk about his administration's policies 
until after his Jan. 21 inauguration. A Hogan spokeswoman, Erin 
Montgomery, said Thursday the governor-elect "has said on the 
campaign trail that he believes some patients do benefit from medical 
marijuana."

Maryland struggled for years with how to create a medical marijuana 
program. A law passed in 2013 relied on academic centers to 
distribute the drug, but none volunteered. This year, state lawmakers 
recrafted the program to allow certified physicians to recommend 
marijuana to qualified patients.

The law calls for 15 growers and an unspecified number of 
dispensaries to be opened across the state. The Natalie M. LaPrade 
Medical Marijuana Commission, named for the late mother of a state 
legislator, also approved rules for training physicians and the 
amount of marijuana a patient can pick up in a month.

The commission is charged with not only crafting the rules to govern 
buying and selling marijuana, but overseeing the industry once it's 
up and running.

Davies, the commission chairman, said he plans to take a day off 
today before the next stage: creating an IT system to manage patient 
and dispensary information, hiring inspectors and staff, and setting 
up applications for growers and dispensaries. Davies said 
applications should be ready by the middle of next year.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom