Maryland has opened the First round of applications for new adult use marijuana dispensaries, cultivation and processing licences — reserved exclusively for socially-equitable businesses.
Maryland Cannabis Administration will accept 179 licensees after the 30-day application window that began on Monday. This includes 75 dispensary licenses, 16 grower licenses and 32 processor licences.
The state will now have more than twice as many retailers, as only the existing medical marijuana dispensaries with dual licenses currently serve adult consumers.
This round of applications is designed to encourage diversity and stop large companies from dominating adult-use markets.
A person can’t be linked to more than one application for a license type. They are also restricted from submitting two or more applications in the same round.
MCA stated in September that “it will not award any licenses which would violate statutory control or ownership restrictions.” This means that people can apply both for standard licenses and micro licenses but they can only receive one. The state also prohibits applicants from receiving more than one license of the same type in any given region.
limits are placed on the number licenses per region. For example, Baltimore City has 11 licenses for standard dispensaries, while Worcester only has one.
MCA launched an online portal in Septembre that allows users to check their eligibility to receive a Social Equity Marijuana Business License, as the regulators began to accept applications.
Equity applicants are those who have owned at least 65 percent of their business by individuals who’ve resided in an “disproportionately affected area” (or designated “disadvantaged area”) for a minimum five years of the past ten. The applicant must have also attended a Maryland four-year school or a Maryland public high school for at least 5 years.
will accept applications until December 12, 2018.
Regulators also have launched a program of technical assistance to support marijuana social equity applicants in the newly opened round of business licensing. Participants who intend to apply for a license to cultivate marijuana will have the opportunity to attend sessions with experts and regulators to learn more about the process before the application deadline of 30 days.
Since opening in July, Maryland’s cannabis industry has been a success. Although overall marijuana sales were down slightly in October, they were higher than ever for adult-use products. Last month, licensed retailers in the state collectively sold nearly $90,000,000 in medical and retail cannabis .
Last month, the MCA also issued guidelines to minimize the risk for burglaries and other crimes in licensed cannabis businesses due to what they claim is an increase in thefts from dispensaries throughout the state.
A Maryland tax official stated earlier this year that to avoid identifying marijuana tax revenues on financial forms, the state needed to find a workaround. Prohibitionists then asked a federal prosecutor to investigate.
In July , a separate Maryland law went into effect that prohibits police officers from searching based solely on the smell or possession of marijuana. Another law was passed that prohibits state officials from interpreting the legal and responsible use by parents and guardians of cannabis as “child neglect.”
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Photo by Mike Latimer.
The article Maryland Regulators are now accepting marijuana license applications from social equity businesses first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
