Maryland Court Denies Delay Of Medical Marijuana Licensing
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland's medical marijuana commission can continue to issue licenses to companies to grow the drug.
Maryland's highest court denied a motion Friday to continue a temporary restraining order that blocked the commission from issuing licenses for about a week, due to a lawsuit against the commission.
"If the Court of Appeals hadn't acted, the entire program would have been thrown into chaos," said attorney Arnold Weiner.
The request to block the issuing of more licenses came from Alternative Medicine. The company alleges the commission didn't consider diversity as required by law when naming finalists.
The attorney, Brian Brown, for Alternative Medicine for sent the following statement:
"We are confident that we will succeed on the merits under any circumstances."
"Which means the commission can continue to process licenses, can continue to move forward with the program, and can get this desperately needed medicine to those who need it," said attorney Alan Rifkin.
Attorneys for the State's selected growers see it as win for their clients and patients like baby Raina.
"This baby deserves, and everyone else here deserves, access to plant based medications that work," said Raina'a mother Carey Tilghman.
She's under two and her mom said she's already facing major medical challenges; chronic seizures which are soothed by legal cannabis.
"She's curious. She's climbing. She's doing everything babies are supposed to do. And, that was severely delayed due to the pharmaceuticals they had her on," she said.
The court also agreed to hear arguments from finalists to be licensed who contend they should have been allowed to weigh against the lawsuit. The court set a July 27 hearing date.
So far, the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has only awarded one of 15 licenses allowed in the law.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook
(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)