Pubdate: Fri, 14 Aug 2015
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2015 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Authors: Michael Dresser and Pamela Wood

OFFICIALS SEEKING CANNABIS ANSWERS

Counties Concerned About Nuts and Bolts of Medical Marijuana

OCEAN CITY - County officials from across Maryland packed an 
information session here Thursday, seeking guidance now that 
entrepreneurs are scouting locations to grow and sell marijuana for 
medical use.

"If it's coming, I want to be as knowledgeable and prepared as I can 
be," said Michael Hewitt, a St. Mary's County commissioner who was 
among 200 people who attended the session at the Maryland Association 
of Counties summer convention.

The General Assembly passed legislation this year and last to revise 
a 2013 law that had legalized the sale of medical marijuana in the 
state but was so restrictive that it attracted no proposals. 
Regulations have been drafted and, unless new snags emerge, people 
suffering from cancer, epilepsy and other ailments are expected to be 
able to purchase cannabis to relieve their symptoms by late 2016.

Unlike state lawmakers, many of the commissioners and council members 
were unfamiliar with legislation that received long debate in 
Annapolis. Many were seeking basic reassurances at the session, a 
late addition to the MACo program.

"Frankly, there's a lot of concerns about the issue. Counties are 
looking for information on this," said Leslie Knapp Jr., MACo's legal 
and policy counsel.

Providing most of the answers was Hannah Byron, executive director of 
the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and the state official in 
charge of implementing the program approved by the legislators. She 
and commission member Deborah Miran explained the scientific 
arguments that have prompted nearly half the states to pass medical 
marijuana laws and the safeguards Maryland has adopted to prevent abuses.

"This is medicine for sick people," Byron told the group, which 
included elected and appointed county officials. "It will create jobs 
and economic development. It's one of the fastest-growing industries 
in the country."

The law allows the state to issue up to 15 licenses to grow and 
process medical cannabis and to operate 94 dispensaries across Maryland.

Facilities must comply with local zoning restrictions, Byron said. 
But questions remain about whether counties can attempt to discourage 
such operations. A spokesman for Maryland Attorney General Brian E. 
Frosh said the office has not been asked for an opinion on the subject.

Some counties appear receptive to the growing and processing 
facilities, which can be set off in industrial parks or remote areas. 
However, officials said the dispensaries - where people will be able 
to buy cannabis with a doctor's recommendation - are a more sensitive topic.

Byron sought to reassure the group that lawmakers did not envision 
the dispensaries as public nuisances.

"These are not going to be neon lights on Main Street," she said, 
adding that they are more likely to resemble a doctor's office.

In Baltimore County this week, Councilwoman Vicki Almond introduced a 
zoning bill that would impose tight restrictions on where the 
dispensaries can open and how they can be run. Almond, a Reisterstown 
Democrat who supports medical cannabis, said her intent is not to 
block such facilities but simply to regulate where they can go.

"I think it's only appropriate - and a responsibility to our 
communities - to make sure they are zoned properly and in the proper 
places," Almond said. "I'm not trying to stop it. We're just trying 
to take a hard look at where these places should be."

Her bill drew a harsh reaction from a Baltimore County senator who 
supports medical cannabis. "It would be beyond ridiculous to do what 
this bill has done, which is zone it out of existence," said Sen. 
Robert A. Zirkin, a Democrat who chairs the Judicial Proceedings Committee.

Almond's bill would require that the dispensaries affiliate 
themselves with a health or medical center and locate at least 1,000 
feet away from schools, day care centers, houses of worship, 
libraries and parks. They also would have to be at least 2,500 feet 
away from one another.

Almond's bill is co-sponsored by David Marks, a Republican from Perry Hall.

"I thought this was a useful time to begin a dialogue of where these 
establishments should be placed," Marks said.

According to Zirkin, the bill would thwart the legislature's intent 
to make medical cannabis available to suffering patients. He said 
Almond's proposed restrictions are so broad that there would not be 
anywhere in the county that a dispensary could open.

"It would make it impossible for a patient to pick up their 
prescription in Baltimore County," Zirkin said. He said the zoning 
for dispensaries should be no more restrictive than for a CVS or 
Walgreens, noting that pharmacies dispense prescription drugs more 
dangerous than cannabis.

The senator said restrictive local zoning laws could bring court 
challenges or General Assembly action to rein in local governments.

Almond said she is willing to make changes to her bill, either before 
it is voted on in September or in future legislation. She and Marks 
said the whole council agrees that zoning rules for medical cannabis 
businesses are needed.

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz disagrees.

"The county executive believes there's no need for this legislation 
because the regulation of these facilities can be handled through 
existing zoning," said Ellen Kobler, a spokeswoman for Kamenetz.

Similar controversies are likely to arise in other jurisdictions 
after the state commission adopts final regulations in September and 
begins taking applications for licenses.

At Thursday's session, local officials posed questions on concerns 
ranging from the danger of medical practices becoming "marijuana 
mills" to whether the dispensary licenses would be awarded on a 
firstcome, first-served basis.

Byron said she was confident the commission had adopted controls that 
would identify a physician who was abusing the system. And she said 
licenses for dispensaries would be awarded to the best applicants, 
not necessarily the first.

Hewitt came in with questions about whether the cannabis facilities 
would have to operate on a cash basis, since marijuana is illegal 
under federal law and banks might refuse to deal with them. Byron's 
answer - that Congress might soon lift some of those restrictions - 
did not erase his concerns about having such a business in St. Mary's.

"It seems like that would make it a good target for crime," said 
Hewitt, a Republican, like all of the commissioners in his Southern 
Maryland county.

Nevertheless, Hewitt found the session valuable.

"I got a lot of my questions answered today," he said. "I continue to 
keep an open mind."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom