Washington - Top
Democrats in the Maryland legislature have agreed to expand the ranks of
medical marijuana growers in the state as part of an overhaul of the burgeoning
but beleaguered industry.
Lawmakers are
still wrangling, however, over which businesses should have a shot at entry
into the lucrative market.
Fifteen
companies preapproved last year by regulators can open cultivation sites as
early as summer if they pass final inspections and background checks.
Five more
growing licenses would be granted under a bill that passed the House of
Delegates on Tuesday and is aimed at favouring minority-owned companies.
That bill will
probably be amended in the Senate Finance Committee as early as Thursday. House
and Senate negotiators say they're on the brink of a compromise over how many
new licenses to issue and whether to shrink the total number of growers if any
company fails inspection.
The Legislative
Black Caucus of Maryland, the largest caucus in the legislature, is insistent
on expanding minority participation in the industry, after the Maryland Medical
Marijuana Commission failed to license any African American-owned growers.
Lawmakers are
also trying to address the concerns of two other companies who sued the state
after regulators rejected their applications in favour of lower-ranked bids
from geographic regions of Maryland where no growers had been approved.
But the 15
businesses already given cultivation licenses have banded together to oppose
expanding the market, saying their business plans and pitches to investors were
based on having an early and exclusive foothold in the industry.
"The way
this whole entire thing was handled by this commission was really screwed up,
so really the legislature is trying to resolve a messy situation," said
Sen. Thomas Middleton, D-Calvert, who chairs the Finance Committee that is
amending the medical marijuana bill.
As written, the
legislation passed by the House calls for an expedited study of racial
disparities that could be completed in time to justify a race-conscious
has dropped its demand that no medical marijuana businesses start operating
until minority-controlled businesses got licenses.
"We don't
want to delay the process," said Del. Cheryl Glenn, the Baltimore Democrat
who chairs the caucus. "We do want the patients . . . to be able to get
the medications."
Middleton says
he is supportive of the House legislation, which has more licenses meant for
minority-owned companies than the Senate version. But he and other powerful
senators, including Senate President Thomas "Mike" Miller, D-Calvert,
want to offer two additional olive branches to other industry players.
If any of the
original 15 growers fail to pass inspections, they want to throw those licenses
out of the pool rather than giving them to the next highest-ranked companies.
This would effectively reduce the amount of competition among growers.
And they would
also give licenses to Maryland Cultivation and Processing and Green Thumb
Industries, the two companies denied in the name of geographic diversity.
Those companies
have agreed to drop their lawsuits if a compromise is approved. If Middleton's
proposal for as many as 22 grower licenses gets pushback, Glenn said, the Black
Caucus will prioritize licenses for minority-owned companies over the
applicants suing the state.
"They
absolutely were wronged by the commission," Glenn said of Maryland Cultivation
and Processing and Green Thumb Industries. "But I'm not willing to
sacrifice any of the licenses that we have negotiated to be awarded to African
Americans and other minorities."
A leader of the
Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Association, which represents preapproved
growers and processors, said the association was opposed to
"arbitrarily" increasing the number of licenses by nearly 50 percent
to help applicants that fell short.
"Our
members relied on commitments from the state when making their business
decisions, and it is reasonable for them to expect that the state would honour
those commitments," Jake Van Wingerden, president of Cecil County's SunMed
Growers, said in a statement. "Many of our members are just months away
from delivering medical cannabis to patients, and we are opposed to any changes
that would cause additional delays to this important program."
The licensing
changes are encountering some Republican resistance - although GOP lawmakers do
not have a strong enough presence in the legislature to threaten passage.
"They want
to do a lot of things in a very critical point for this industry, and I do not
want to see that because I want to see the industry move forward," Del.
Susan Krebs, R-Carroll. "I'm concerned about delays, and I'm also
concerned about new lawsuits."
The legislation
would restructure the marijuana commission as well.
It also contains
a provision to bar lawmakers from working in the industry, in response to the
ethics probe of Del. Dan Morhaim, D-Baltimore County, who was reprimanded by
the House for trying to shape industry regulations without fully disclosing he
was affiliated with a prospective dispensary.