Pubdate: Thu, 24 Sep 2015
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Fenit Nirappil

MD. PREPARES TO LAUNCH MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM

Nearly 2 1/2 years after legalizing the use of marijuana for 
medicinal purposes, Maryland is preparing to issue business licenses 
to dispensaries and cultivation centers-prompting a range of 
reactions from local elected officials.

At one extreme, Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh (R) is 
proposing a ban on cannabis production and shops in the county, which 
a skeptical state lawmaker likened to a county specific OxyContin 
prohibition. Elsewhere, Republicans hungry for jobs in their rural 
communities are embracing potential marijuana businesses.

State regulations allow for 94 dispensaries, two per state Senate 
district, and 15 facilities to grow cannabis plants and turn them 
into medical products such as pills and oil. The Maryland Medical 
Cannabis Commission will start accepting applications this month, 
which means marijuana grown for medicinal purposes should be 
available for purchase by the end of 2016.

Potential applicants are meeting with government officials across the 
state, particularly in western and central areas of Maryland, where 
land is cheaper and more available.

Closer to Washington, Prince George's and Montgomery counties - like 
most other suburbs - are considering their options, waiting to see 
how the burgeoning industry evolves.

"It's a mixed bag," said Hunter Holliman, a consultant to cannabis 
businesses and a medical marijuana legalization activist. He said it 
is "unfortunate" that Schuh, who voted against medical marijuana 
legislation as a state lawmaker, was "trying to take this 'not in my 
back yard' stance."

Schuh said the state regulations on who can grow and obtain medical 
marijuana are so loose that they amount to legalizing recreational 
marijuana use. The potential consequences for Anne Arundel, he said, 
include medical cannabis being resold on the street and would-be 
robbers stalking patients who leave dispensaries carrying as much as 
$3,000 worth of pot. "There are people who will kill for that amount 
of value," Schuh said.

When the state first approved medical marijuana in 2013, only 
teaching hospitals such as Johns Hopkins University were permitted to 
distribute it. But no hospitals were willing to participate.

Follow-up laws approved last year and this year allow for retail 
shops and private manufacturing of medical marijuana so long as the 
facilities follow local zoning and planning rules.

Counties cannot forbid legal businesses unless they have special 
circumstances, according to an advice letter to the state legislature 
by the state attorney general's office.

Still, state Sen. RobertA. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) plans to 
introduce legislation barring local governments from blocking patient 
access to medical marijuana-essentially a ban on bans.

"I've never heard of local zoning being utilized to prohibit 
OxyContin, Percocet or Valium or any other medication," Zirkin said.

Schuh's resistance to medical marijuana frustrates activists such as 
Gail Rand, who said that the county executive is trying to reopen a 
battle that he lost in the General Assembly, and is using scare 
tactics that have been discredited in the 22 other states where 
medical cannabis is legal.

Rand wants medical cannabis as a seizure-relieving option for her 
6-year-old son, Logan, who has epilepsy, autism and development 
delays. Traditional medication and a strict diet regimen have not 
delivered the results she wants.

Schuh said his proposal would not be a ban on medical marijuana, 
because patients could drive to dispensaries outside the county - a 
solution Rand called impractical.

"When you take a child who has epilepsy and ADHD and autism and put 
them in the car, you would see it's not that easy," said Rand, who is 
consulting as a patient advocate for a prospective cultivation center 
in Anne Arundel. "What happens if the neighboring county does the 
same thing as Anne Arundel? Then you're not talking about a 15-minute 
drive. It's an hour or more."

Schuh said officials from other counties have reached out to him for 
help developing similar legislation banning medical marijuana, but 
declined to name them because they approached him in confidence.

Anne Arundel County Council members introduced two marijuana bills 
Monday: Schuh's proposed ban and competing regulations that would 
allow the businesses but place restrictions on where they locate.

Elsewhere in the state, politicians have welcomed overtures from 
out-of-state businesses that want a share of Maryland's 
cannabis-growing market.

"We view it as an economic development opportunity," Washington 
County Commissioner John Barr told the Baltimore Sun that after the 
five Republican members of the board unanimously passed a resolution 
supporting a 45,000-square-foot indoor growing facility proposed by 
Green Thumb Industries, which has licenses in other states.

The Board of County Commissioners is considering a similar resolution 
for Arizona-based Harvest, which is pitching an $11.5 million growing 
and processing facility in the 1,500-person town of Hancock. Chief 
executive Steve White told attendees at a town hall meeting that his 
proposal could create 124 jobs. He offered to fly officials to 
Arizona to show them the security measures at the company's operation there.

"It's important to me to demonstrate that you are following the 
proper channels in developing a new industry that for a lot of people 
can be scary and intimidating," White said.

Baltimore County tried this year to put in place strict regulations 
regarding the location of dispensaries. After pushback from marijuana 
advocates, who said the regulations would essentially ban 
dispensaries, the County Council modified them in August to prohibit 
shops opening within 500 feet of schools, among other restrictions.

In Montgomery, lawmakers are waiting to see whether existing rules 
need to be supplemented with new legislation, said County Council 
members Craig Rice (D-Upcounty) and Tom Hucker (D-Eastern County).

In Prince George's, County Council Chairman Mel Franklin (D-Upper 
Marlboro) said the council was reviewing options for regulating 
medical marijuana but wasn't trying to keep facilities out.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom