Hopeful Maryland Dispensaries Receive Pre-Approval

On August 15, 2017 the Natalie M. LaPrade Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, or MMCC, announced pre-approvals medical marijuana growers and processors across the state.

In total, 15 growers and 15 processors earned the pre-approved status, marking yet another big step in Maryland’s legalization status. These include:

Maryland Pre-approved Growers

• Curio Cultivation LLC Baltimore County


• Doctors Orders Maryland LLC Dorchester County


• Forward Gro LLC Anne Arundel County


• Freestate Wellness LLC Howard County


• Green Leaf Medical LLC Frederick County


• Grow West MD LLC Garrett County


• Harvest of Maryland LLC Washington County


• HMS Health LLC Frederick County


• Holistic Industries LLC Prince George’s County


• Kind Therapeutics USA LLC Washington County


• Maryland Compassionate Care and Wellness LLC Carroll County


• MaryMed LLC Dorchester County


• Shore Natural Rx LLC Worcester County


• SunMed Growers LLC Cecil County


• Temescal Wellness of MD LLC Baltimore City

Maryland Pre-approved Processors

• AFS Maryland LLC Wicomico County


• Blair Wellness Center LLC Worcester County


• Chesapeake Alternatives LLC Queen Anne’s County


• Curio Manufacturing LLC Baltimore County


• Doctors Orders Maryland LLC Dorchester County


• FGM Processing LLC Charles County


• Holistic Industries LLC Prince George’s County


• Kind Therapeutics USA LLC Washington County


• Maryland Compassionate Care and Wellness LLC Carroll CountyMaryMed LLC Dorchester County


• Pharmaculture Corporation Allegany County


• Pro Green Medical LLC Frederick County


• Rosebud Organics LLC Montgomery County


• Seven Points Agro-Therapeutics LLC Prince George’s County


• Temescal Wellness of MD Baltimore City

“This program is launched now,” said Patrick Jameson, executive director of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission. “We have growers, processors and a dispensary, and we have a lab. The market will determine how this moves forward,” The Washington Post reported.

Maryland’s newest “weedpreneurs” were chosen after careful—and lengthy—evaluation led by third-party experts across the United States. The MMCC commissioned the Regional Economic Studies Institute, or RESI, to coordinate the effort which included double-blind rankings of applicants. To do this, each application was given a number to de-personalize applications. Then, subject matter experts scored each application based on certain criteria. RESI combined scores across judges, stack ranked the applications, and then issued pre-approvals to top qualifying companies, the MMCC says.

Apart from merit, the state also included requirements for geographic diversity, leading to some more-qualified companies to be redacted, whilst others may have passed, based on geographic need.

The final list includes growers and processors spanning 16 counties and Baltimore City, including: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester.

And what can patients expect from the list of 30 new companies by way of actual product?

The MMCC holds their pre-approved list will effectively grow and produce myriad safe varieties of medicinal marijuana.

The growers and processors will supply the state with a variety of cannabis strains ranging in cannabinoid content from a low to high spectrum of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD). The herb will be processed into the form of oils, pills, capsules, sublingual sprays, inhaled products, ointments, salves, and transdermal patches.

The next question is: Where can we buy it?

So far, only one dispensary has been licensed in Maryland. About 100 others have been stalled in bureaucratic errors and legal disputes. The state granted 102 dispensary pre-approvals, chosen from 811 applications. The MMCC again commissioned RESI, and threw in the help of the Towson University, to review dispensary applications and use the same double-blind process for the grower and processor applications to compile scores and rank applicants.

For those lucky 12% who received a thumbs up, the next few months could be intense. Dispensaries have until December to get operations set up, pass state employee background checks, and complete final inspections before they can be fully licensed, let alone open the doors of bricks and mortar shops.

The process of “getting set up” might not be as clear and easy as the 12,000 registered Maryland medical marijuana patients would hope for. While they eagerly anticipate the moment they can actually walk into a shop, pay for cannabis, and walk out, cannabis businesses are facing a different set of challenges.

Specifically, not everyone is comfortable with legal marijuana. Cannabis businesses are—understandably—battling landlord for lease agreements, and neighborhoods for support and acceptance. This makes a lot of sense. While the process of legalization to some seems routine, many existing business owners feel unsure about the protection or federal legality of medical marijuana. If they haven’t been following the several-year-long Maryland saga with legalizing weed (or decades long national conversation), it could very well be confusing and threatening to local institutions or property owners.

That said, business owners with newly inked medical marijuana pre-approval stamps—and their investors— are suddenly feeling confident in the turn of events in Maryland. The industry in coalescing. It’s finally coming together.

Philip Goldberg, chief executive of the Green Leaf Medical Center, has already raised $8.7 million in investment, signed sales deals with 23 dispensaries (we’re guessing all from the list of pre-approved shops), and expects to produce 320 pounds of marijuana a month.

“We knew it was going to take time. Did we think it was going to take four years? No,” the Washington Post reported Goldberg saying. “But it feels really good to finally be able to put seeds in the ground and start growing.”