Articles Posted in Marijuana

Almost five years ago Maryland residents began hearing talk that a state sponsored medical marijuana program was on the horizon. Despite numerous states already having established successful medical cannabis programs, our elected officials decided to pave their own way and craft a program that was unique to Maryland. These lawmakers eventually passed a severely underwhelming medical cannabis bill that only allowed academic institutions to administer the program. To the surprise of approximately nobody there weren’t any takers of this ridiculous platform requiring universities to dedicate time and money to study something that they already knew the answer (marijuana helps people). After a wasted year lawmakers once again convened and passed laws establishing an actual functioning program that would be run by the private sector and heavily policed by the state. A commission was formed to craft rules and regulations, and eventually to set up procedure for grower and dispensary applications.

On paper everything seemed in place, but actually building the program from the ground up proved more difficult for all parties involved (despite the abundance of information and resources from other states). The commission was underfunded and appointed members lacked expertise and experience, which led to delays and disgruntled applicants. Fast-forward to today and all the medical marijuana investors are still waiting to make their first buck from the program, and most will never recoup their losses. Now though, the day is finally imminent when the first legal marijuana transaction will take place.

The founder of a dispensary in Frederick was recently on record stating he believes his shop will begin selling marijuana by the first week in December, which is hard to believe for those that have been following the progress (or lack thereof) of the program. On the other hand, the day has to come eventually so why not be optimistic about at early holiday season? While the dispensary founder was cautious to put a guarantee on this statement he did add that his staff of ten is ready to serve the patients who are undoubtedly growing impatient. Owners of another dispensary in Salisbury are also confident of a 2017 opening, though this Wicomico County shop is not expecting a grand opening next week.

Medical marijuana grow facilities across Maryland have been up and running for weeks, yet as of now these growers are still not able to sell their product to the distributors that will ultimately provide to patients. One Anne Arundel County grower has already harvested a batch of pot for testing purposes and is primed to ramp up production when the time comes, but when is the time actually coming? This is a question four years in the making, and each time an answer appears on the horizon new hurdles must be cleared. While it is unlikely that the entire program is in jeopardy, the coming weeks will certainly bring a few sleepless nights for the workers who put in hundreds of hours and the investors who put up millions in order to make medical marijuana a reality here in Maryland.

There are at least three current issues threatening smooth operation of the state’s medical cannabis program, with two being on the state and local level and one on the federal level. The first issue is where to put all the dispensaries. The locations of the grow facilities have been set for months, and are scattered around the state in discrete industrial locations. These facilities are not open to the public, and will do their best to be out of sight and out of mind. The dispensaries are a different story, as they must be in areas that are accessible for the registered patients to pick up their medicine. The problem is that many residents in areas of proposed dispensaries are speaking out as to their disapproval of having medical pot shops in their neighborhoods. While these complaints lack a any sort of factual and rational basis (for example some citizens are concerned that dispensaries will bring crime and loitering riff raff) they are causing a stir that is being heard by state and local politicians. The program cannot function properly without numerous dispensaries to handle the high demand from patients.  A limited amount of dispensaries will severely disrupt the flow of the product from the grower to the patient, and will render the program relatively useless. The growers need the dispensaries as much as the dispensaries need the growers, so the hope is that all the zoning issues are sorted out quickly.

Another state based issue threatening the program is a recent decision by a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge that the case involving the disgruntled growers that were denied licenses will proceed to trial. The state had filed a motion to dismiss, but not surprisingly the judge ruled that it was a case left for the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide. A trial date has not been set, but the medical cannabis program will be allowed to operate while the case is pending.

After enduring numerous delays and costly blunders the state medical marijuana program is now in the final stages of preparation. Over the last few months most of the news headlines concerning medical pot were focused on the potential growers. These grow companies raised millions of dollars apiece and their investors included prominent and powerful state residents. Needless to say there was a lot at stake when the commission hired a Towson University group to choose the best fifteen, and it was hardly a surprise when those that didn’t make the cut took their fight to the media and the courts. Despite pending litigation by a couple of disgruntled grow companies the other fifteen pre-approved growers are moving forward with their plans to plant their first seeds. Many of these multimillion-dollar companies are still awaiting final licenses, but there do not appear to be any imminent hurdles on the growing side of the Maryland medical cannabis operation. However, there are some new issues popping up on the dispensary side.

There has not been a great deal of talk about the hundred plus companies that have been preliminarily approved to sell medical marijuana to patients in need. This is partly due to the simple fact of timing; there was no point in dwelling on the details of dispensing until it was certain there would be a product to dispense. But now that the growers are in place the attention has shifted to the shops that will soon open for business throughout the state, and not all of the attention is positive. Residents in the area of a potential Baltimore County dispensary expressed concern over the location of a one future shop, and politicians responded by imposing new restrictions that could jeopardize the location of this business. A similar pattern of events has taken place in Anne Arundel County, Queen Anne’s County and Baltimore City. Many of the residents who have complained about the location of dispensaries support the medical marijuana program as a whole, but they just don’t want the stores in their neighborhood. The problem is that dispensaries have to go somewhere, and you can’t just make patients drive out to the boonies or into high crime areas to buy their medication.

As with most complaints about medical or recreational marijuana the latest concerns over the location of dispensaries are naïve and ignorant. The detractors assume that pot shops will bring in riff raff and crime to their neighborhoods, though the only support to this argument is the baseless stigma surrounding marijuana. Anyone who has traveled to areas around the country where pot is legal can attest to the fact that the dispensaries are highly sophisticated and secure operations, and their clientele just want to get in, buy their product and leave. You rarely, if ever, see anyone loitering around a dispensary, and the storefronts are clean and professional. Contrast this with local liquor stores that actually do bring in the riff raff, and are prime targets for robberies inside and outside of the store. Once the shops are open for business the stigma should start to erode, though realistically it will take a generation before marijuana is accepted not only as an effective medical product, but also as a safer recreational alternative to alcohol. As for dispensary locations, we do not feel this will ultimately cause additional delays to the program though the Blog will post an article in the future if this sentiment changes.

State regulators recently did away with an archaic restriction that cost hundreds of otherwise qualified applicants the opportunity to become Maryland law enforcement officers. In a landslide 16 to 1 vote the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission eliminated the unreasonable restriction, which previously prevented anyone who had smoked pot more than 20 times in their life, or more than 5 times since turning 21, from becoming a sworn police officer. The plea to ease the 40-year old restriction originally came from the Baltimore Police commissioner, who had witnessed an unprecedented exodus of city cops in the wake of the 2015 civil unrest and resulting disdain toward law enforcement. The commissioner has maintained that prior marijuana use has consistently been the main disqualifier of new applicants to the force, with 30 applications already being tossed aside in the first few months of 2017 over prior pot use.

The modified rule still places a restriction on past marijuana use, but it is a far more reasonable one. Rather than place an arbitrary number on the amount of times a person has smoked, the commission chose to impose simple mandatory three-year clean period. The Office of the Attorney General has already reviewed the modified regulation and starting June 1^st only applicants that have used marijuana in the last three years will be barred by the state from becoming law enforcement officers. Individual police departments are free to choose to impose tougher restrictions if they choose, but in light of changing pot policy around the state and country it is unlikely that many will exercise this right. One thing we know for sure is that the state’s largest police department in Baltimore will not pursue tougher restrictions.

Despite the apparent show of flexibility by the police training and standards commission, the idea that prior casual pot smoking would bar someone from future employment is still asinine. It’s one thing if a department issues a drug test and the applicant fails, as the recreation use of marijuana is still illegal. But a three-year bar seems like pandering to the dwindling but still present establishment that cannot get over the illogical stigma attached to marijuana. Most of these establishment types reside in law enforcement or in the military, and are often those who drink two beers or whiskeys a day without giving it a thought. Alcohol is completely accepted if not promoted in the law enforcement and military culture despite the negative impact it has on thousands of individuals and their families each year. On the other hand the casual use of marijuana can cost a soldier, cop or federal agent his or her career. We are not in a place yet where marijuana is accepted on the same level as beer or liquor, but at least the new police regulations are a step in the right direction.