First Crop Of Legal Weed In Maryland Is Now Growing

The first crop of legal weed in Maryland is officially growing. Although the state approved a medical marijuana program back in 2013, policy makers have been dragging their feet. Now, four years later, Maryland’s medical cannabis program is finally taking root.

Medical Marijuana in Maryland

In 2013, Maryland lawmakers approved a medical marijuana program in their state. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission was formed…and not much else happened.

Well, almost nothing. The Commission set standards for physicians interested in the possibility of prescribing medical weed to their patients.

The Commission also compiled a list of twelve qualifying conditions that would entitle a patient to access this medicine.

These qualifying conditions include multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, Crohn’s disease, and Alzheimer’s.

Until very recently, the state of Maryland has made incredibly slow progress when it came to their medical weed program.

In August, the news broke that the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission approved a total of nine medical weed growers.

And, so far, they have only approved one dispensary in the entire state. Because the state law limits the number of dispensaries to fifteen in the entire state, there is still room to grow.

The Allegany Medical Marijuana Dispensary is set to open its doors this November. Located in Cumberland, Maryland, the dispensary’s owner, Sajal Roy, cited bureaucratic regulations as the cause for so many setbacks.

One of those setbacks included the lack of legal, authorized cannabis growers in the state. Now that Roy has joined forces with a grower, Green Leaf Medical, he is hopeful that he will be able to provide medical weed for patients in November, or at the latest, December.

According to the most recent reports, the first crop of legal weed in Maryland is officially on its way. Growers like ForwardGro, located in Anne Arundel County, and the Baltimore County-based Curio Wellness have confirmed that they have plants growing in their facilities.

Final Hit: The First Crop Of Legal Weed In Maryland

When the plants are fully grown, they will be harvested. Then, a lab will test them for quality. This entire process could take up to a year.

It is fantastic news that the first crop of legal weed in Maryland is growing. However, it is also important to remember and acknowledge how long it took for the state to even get to this point.

Maryland approved a medical marijuana program in 2013, and it has taken about four years for policy makers to approve dispensaries and growers.

That means that patients in Maryland who would benefit from cannabis have been denied this medicine for four years. It’s great that Maryland is finally making progress, but their pace in getting there has been unacceptably slow.