A Maryland state lawmaker who came under scrutiny for his ties to a medical marijuana business while working on legislation shaping the industry has been removed from the health committee that oversees such bills. Del. Dan Morhaim (D-Baltimore County), a physician, will serve on the judiciary committee in the 90-day legislative session starting Wednesday, following 13 years on the Health and Government Operations Committee. House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) announced the change Monday when he released committee assignments. [continues 145 words]
Medical marijuana could finally become a reality next year in Maryland, one of the states slowest to make the drug available for purchase after legalizing sales. In 2016, regulators awarded long-awaited licenses to grow, process and sell cannabis while grappling with fallout from those shut out of the potentially lucrative industry. Now selected businesses are racing to set up facilities and pass final inspections so the first seeds can be planted and flowers can hit the shelves by the end of 2017, four years after lawmakers legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. [continues 1023 words]
No Black Businesses Received Licenses to Grow Medical Marijuana Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) have joined black state lawmakers in expressing dismay about the lack of diversity in Maryland's burgeoning medical-marijuana industry. At the same time, the head of the legislative black caucus is calling for legislation to ban elected officials from taking jobs in the industry. Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore), who was instrumental in passing the bill that legalized medical marijuana, said she's angry that another leader in that effort later joined a company seeking a license to grow, process and sell the drug, without publicly making clear his dual roles. [continues 752 words]
Critics Say MD. Diversity Isn't Reflected; Decisions May Be Challenged Maryland set up its legal medical marijuana industry with hopes of racial diversity and equity in the division of profits, but not one of the 15 companies that were cleared this week for potentially lucrative growing licenses is led by African Americans. Some lawmakers and prospective minority-owned businesses say this is unacceptable in a state where nearly a third of the population is black, the most of any state with a comprehensive legal pot industry. They say the lack of diversity is emblematic of how, across the country, African Americans are disproportionately locked up when marijuana use is criminalized but are shut out of the profits when drug sales are legalized. [continues 1046 words]
MD. Delegate Did Not Disclose His Connection to Dispensary Applicant The state lawmaker who led the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland is part of a company trying to sell and profit off the drug - a position he never disclosed as he pushed bills and regulations to help cannabis businesses. Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) is the clinical director for Doctor's Orders, according to a portion of a dispensary licensing application obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request. [continues 1079 words]
The people lining up to profit from Maryland's legal medical-marijuana market include former sheriffs and state lawmakers, wealthy business executives and well-connected political donors, according to previously undisclosed public records obtained by The Washington Post. Nearly 150 businesses are competing for up to 15 cultivation licenses that will be awarded starting this summer, the first footholds in an emerging industry that is already worth billions nationally. Very few applicants have publicly discussed their plans. But through a public-records request and database searches, The Post identified more than 950 people working for or investing in prospective growing operations in Maryland. Among them: former Drug Enforcement Administration agents; the leader of a Maryland statewide police union; former heads of the Department of Natural Resources police; a former U.S. Capitol Police chief; and Eugene Monroe, the recently released tackle for the Baltimore Ravens who is the foremost advocate of medical marijuana in the National Football League. [continues 2683 words]
Small Town Will Share in Pot Company's Profits At least two Maryland state universities are jumping at the chance to work with marijuana growers to research the medicinal application and cultivation of cannabis. A tiny Western Maryland town says it would happily accept a 5 percent share of profits from a company that hopes to operate there. As competition to join Maryland's burgeoning medical marijuana industry intensifies, some out-of-state entrepreneurs are forging partnerships with local institutions even before securing a license to operate. [continues 876 words]
People who want to buy marijuana in Maryland for medicinal purposes are probably going to have to wait until 2017, nearly four years after the state made it legal. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission announced Monday that it will not award licenses to grow and process the drug until sometime in the summer - and industry officials say it will take an additional four to six months after that for the product to be ready to sell. The commission said it has no target date for allowing retail dispensaries to begin operating and cannot say when marijuana will be available to patients. [continues 522 words]
Calvert County wants out of Maryland's burgeoning medical marijuana program, and some officials want to take the state to court if lawmakers say no. The county commissioners voted 4 to 1 this week to ask state lawmakers to let counties ban marijuana-growing facilities and dispensaries in their jurisdictions. County officials said they are concerned about county employees facing retribution from the federal government for participating in the program, which remains illegal under federal law. [end]
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. [continues 891 words]
