ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Cannabis In The D-M-V
dress this lack of diversity, the Maryland legislature created an ad - ditional 4 cultivator and 10 processor licenses; these licenses were required to be awarded to applicants with ownership groups that were racially and economically diverse. In October 2020, over one year after license applications were submitted the MMCC awarded pre-approval licenses to 3 cultivators and 8 processors. This licens - ing process was also characterized by a flurry of applicants lawsuits. Despite being fraught with litigation and controversy, the Maryland medical cannabis market boasted almost $48 million in sales as of April 2021; and with over 120,000 patients registered and the 11 new licensees becoming operational by Fall 2021, sales will only continue to climb. This means that medical cannabis licensees are likely not particularly eager to see adult use legislation pass in the State House. So far, any push for adult use in Maryland has largely stalled out and may not be a reality for quite some time. Adult use legalization bills were introduced by representatives in the Maryland House and Senate in 2020, but both bills failed to advance past an ini - tial hearing before the end of the legislative session in March 2021. The failure of Maryland lawmakers to advance a piece of adult use legislation puts Maryland at a significant disadvantage, partic - ularly if the state wishes to compete with the forthcoming adult use markets in Virginia and the District. \Though Governor Ho - gan is not a fervent supporter of adult use cannabis, he is expect- ed to sign an adult use bill, should it advance in the legislature. III. Virginia When it comes to cannabis, Virginia has been full of surprises over the past few years. In 2019 Virginia rolled out a very limited medi - cal cannabis program. Qualifying patients are able to purchase can- continued on page 79
...continued from page 13 because it does not require the District to take any positive action to regulate cannabis and does not permit the outright sale of canna- bis—rather, it exempts the use, possession, transfer, transport and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis from criminal prosecution. Democratic control of the White House and Congress more than likely signals the death knell of the Harris Rider. And with this in mind, the Mayor and the Chairman of the D.C. Council both intro - duced bills in 2021 that would eliminate the gray market and imple - ment a taxed and regulated adult use cannabis program. Hearings on one or both of the bills will likely be held sometime in the Fall, with the hope being that the Mayor could enact a piece of legisla - tion in the first quarter of 2022. This means there would likely be an operational market in late 2022. Both the Mayor and the Chair - man’s bills include robust social equity provisions that would grant preference points to returning citizens and individuals who have been harmed by the war on drugs and apply for adult use licenses. II. Maryland Cannabis in Maryland has been a winding road that seems to just keep on winding. In 2016, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Com - mission (MMCC) awarded the first round of cultivator, processor and dispensary licenses. Since then, Maryland’s medical canna - bis program has been plagued by protracted licensing delays, a tor- rent of lawsuits and complaints about the lack of diversity among the cultivator and processor licensees (because they are at the top of the supply chain, cultivators and processors are generally more profitable more than stand alone dispensaries). In an effort to ad -
PATHWAYS—Summer 21—33
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