Maryland Legislature Passes Recreational Marijuana Sale Act

The Maryland legislature passed legislation over the weekend to regulate commercial cannabis production and sales, after months of negotiations over issues including social justice and taxation. The bill, which sets the stage for regulated recreational marijuana sales to begin on July 1, now goes to the desk of Democratic Gov. Wes Moore.

The Maryland Senate passed the bill with amendments Friday by a vote of 30 to 12. The House of Representatives, which originally approved the measure on March 10, passed the amended version of the legislation Saturday by a vote of 104 to 35 and sent the bill to Moore for consideration. According to a Washington Post report, the governor who supported efforts to legalize adult-use cannabis in Maryland is set to sign the law into law.

After the bill passed, lawmakers said they drew on Maryland’s experience in legalizing the medical use of cannabis and regulatory efforts in other states to draft legislation to legalize the production and sale of recreational marijuana .

“We spoke to our colleagues in other states and said, ‘If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently? What would you have liked to know when you were creating your program?’” Democratic Senator Melony Griffith, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said at a news conference. “We have great expertise here in Maryland with our medicinal cannabis program and have had tremendous success. So all of these ingredients have been rolled into our cannabis framework, if you will.”

In November, Maryland voters legalized recreational marijuana with the passage of Question 4, a state referendum that passed by nearly two-thirds of the vote. The law, passed by lawmakers on Saturday, sets the stage for legalization, which allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to two cannabis plants at home, to go into effect on June 1. July.

Under the legislation, a new Division of Regulation and Enforcement would be created within the existing state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, which would be renamed the Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission. The legislation includes provisions regulating cannabis production and sales, and imposes a 9% tax on recreational marijuana purchases.

Lawmakers are blocking a new change to further restrict pharmacies

Before the bill passed the House of Representatives, Republican Representative Wayne A. Hartman proposed an amendment that would increase the mandatory minimum distance between cannabis dispensaries from 500 feet to one mile. The proposal would also have required pharmacies to be at least a mile from schools, parks, playgrounds and libraries.

“So we couldn’t put a dispensary anywhere in Ocean City because there’s no place that spans a mile between all of these things?” asked House Economic Matters chairman CT Wilson.

“I can’t tell you that this broke my heart,” Hartman replied.

But Wilson said residents of Hartman’s district might think differently, noting that voters passed Maryland’s adult-use cannabis referendum by more than two-thirds of the statewide vote.

“You asked us to,” he said. “You have asked us to do this in a fair and just manner. They asked us to make sure we don’t stick them all in one place and make sure anyone who wants to buy has access.”

Social justice a priority

To promote equality in the cannabis industry and ownership of those adversely affected by marijuana prohibition, the first licenses issued in Maryland will be reserved for social justice applicants. To qualify, an applicant must be at least 65% owned by an individual who has lived in, or attended a public school in, a “disproportionately affected area” for five of the past 10 years. The bill also creates a new social justice office in the cannabis division to encourage participation by “people from communities previously disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs,” Wilson said at a bill committee hearing last month.

Brian Vicente, founding partner of the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente LLP, commended the Maryland Legislature’s approval of the bill legalizing the cannabis trade.

“Maryland continues its push toward legalization with the House and Senate sending a bill to the governor’s desk to create a robust licensing structure for adult use,” Vicente wrote in an email to High Times. “This law will increase the number of cannabis businesses, and the first round of new business owners will be social justice applicants. With state voters passing nearly 70% in favor of legalization, it’s no surprise that the Maryland Legislature is moving quickly to implement the will of voters. They remain firmly on target to begin selling adult products by July 1.”