Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Which came first …


Read an interesting article about the Maryland marijuana dispensaries. Seems that it is now legal to grow the marijuana for medicinal resale, but remains Illegal to buy seeds or seedlings to start the growing process.

Maryland passed a law in 2014 decriminalizing smaller amounts of marijuana and allowing for dispensaries to grow and dispense medicinal marijuana. In December 2016 the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission approved 102 dispensaries that have been granted a license to begin growing marijuana. They have 365 days to begin their operations. The problem for these newly licensed businesses is-How do you start a business based on growing an organic product when it is illegal to buy or import the seeds or seedlings?

Once the grow operations have their crop started that crop and further crops are legal under the law.  However, obtaining the startup seeds is illegal under federal and Maryland law, as well as some other states that have approved medical and/or decriminalized marijuana. In Washington, D.C. for example, it is legal to possess and grow marijuana at home but illegal to buy or sell seeds and plants. Mostly state regulators and law enforcement are turning their heads when it comes to the topic. A don’t ask don’t tell sort of thing.

With all the politics that went into decriminalizing marijuana in Maryland and setting up the laws to allow for dispensaries it seems like someone would have taken this conundrum into consideration. Now that the licenses have been granted and the dispensaries are on the clock it will be interesting to see if this legislative session takes up the issue and corrects the legal blockade.

See our blog archive for other posts relating to medical marijuana:

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