General Assembly leaders have coalesced around a plan to issue an additional five medical marijuana growing licenses and increase the likelihood several of those lucrative deals went to minority-owned companies.
The deal, though, falls short of demands lodged by the influential Legislative Black Caucus, which wanted to disband the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission and put the licensing process on hold.
Maryland’s medical marijuana program is among the slowest in the country to get off the ground and, in recent months, has been beset by lawsuits and legislative wrangling over how licenses should be awarded.
The beleaguered cannabis commissioners say the program is on the brink of becoming operational and, provided legislators do not cause delays, patients could start receiving the drug this summer.
