Maryland lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor meant to clear up policies around on-site marijuana consumption businesses and lay out the plan for a second cannabis licensing lottery round—while also revising rules to allow license holders sell their cannabis companies to employees ahead of a current five-year waiting period.
Although the legalization legislation that Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who signed the law in 2023, had already envisaged sites for social consumption where marijuana could be consumed. Regulators asked legislators to pass a bill with amendments that clarified rules.
The legislation—which was filed by the chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and House Economic Matters Committee in January on behalf of the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA)—includes definitions and various mentions for what constitutes a “cannabinoid beverage” that could be offered at consumption lounges. The drinks cannot contain more THC than 5mg per single serving.
In addition, the measure specifies that marijuana consumption lounges located on-site can also operate as food-service facilities. They would then be allowed to sell non-infused foods in addition to single-serve cannabis items.
Legislators amended the law to specify that on-site consumption facilities would be required to acquire building code permits as well as mechanical code permits. They also need use and occupancy permits in addition to “anyother applicable permits or licences”.
The original law would have prohibited smoking cannabis and using vaping products at any on-site consumption site. It was modified to give local governments the power to ban cannabis. indoor The facilities may not allow smoking or vaping but apparently they could permit it.
As the bill progressed, certain provisions that were intended to create a temporary cannabis event permit category have been removed. To sell products, registrants would need to work with an approved marijuana vendor who is licensed separately by MCA.
A disparity analysis would be required before a state business lottery was held to assess whether there were “strong grounds in evidence” of discrimination in business against minority-owned and female-owned firms in Maryland’s cannabis market.
In the event that agencies determine there is a discrepancy, “remedial” measures will be implemented to correct the problem. The lottery will be open to all applicants if the study does not show that there is a difference.
The second round of the lottery would allow for the approval up to 120 standard licenses per dispensary, and 25 each for growers, processors, or both. MCA may also grant up to 70 additional microbusiness licenses for growers and processors. Moreover, regulators can also approve licenses to operate 10 incubators and 15 lounges on site.
Although the bill maintains the existing policy stating that licenses for marijuana businesses cannot generally be sold until at least five year after being issued, it would allow the transfer of licenses to employees via an employee stock ownership program.
This measure will allow dispensaries that sell medical marijuana to deliver products to their patients up until the 1st of July 2026. The delivery option is set to expire in July.
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Maryland lawmakers approved the final version of a law that requires state officials not to make public any records of low-level marijuana offenses pardoned by the governor. The bill also expands expungement rights for some other offences.
The governor pardoned more than 175 000 convictions for cannabis-related offenses and paraphernalia last year. Records of these crimes would no longer be accessible to the public under a bill sent to him. The executive can pardon, but the record is not removed.
Moore spoke in February about the new bill that the Legislature has passed. Moore said it will allow people to get their marijuana criminal records expunged if they violate the terms of probation or parole.
Separately a Maryland House of Delegates bill that would permit adults to produce marijuana edibles or concentrates at home for personal consumption has been also sent to Governor.
The proposal would change the classification of possession, cultivation, or distribution of large quantities of cannabis, in excess of fifty pounds, from a crime punishable by five years of mandatory prison time to a misdemeanor. It would instead be considered a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum 10-year sentence or a fine of $50,000.
The advancement of the legislation came about one week after the Maryland Senate passed a measure to protect for fire and rescue workers from being penalized for off-duty use of medical marijuana.
The employer could not discriminate or discipline the public safety firefighter or rescuer based on the result of a THC screening.
In January, officials in Maryland’s most populous county separately said they were moving to loosen marijuana policies for would-be police officers in an effort to boost recruitment amid a staffing shortage.
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