Lawmakers prepare to implement law that legalizes recreational marijuana in Maryland
BALTIMORE -- Marylanders voted on a November referendum to legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 and older. Roughly 67% of them said recreational marijuana should be legal. Now, lawmakers in Annapolis are obligated to figure out how to implement the law.
On Friday, 80 people signed up to give their opinions on the topic.
After many minorities were shut out of the state's medical marijuana industry, some lawmakers and citizens are seeking assurances that won't happen again.
"How can we really ensure that we're really talking about equity and inclusion and getting more minorities to participate in yet another billion dollar industry coming before the state of Maryland," Del. Darry Barnes of Prince George's County said.
We "do want to make sure that folks who have been disparately impacted by cannabis criminalization have an opportunity to then come in and be a part of this industry," Kevin Ford Jr. of the Uplift Action Fund said.
Supporters of the bill said start-ups and smaller companies will benefit from lower application fees.
Advocates said the application process will be more straightforward, containing 25 questions rather than 147 of them.
Those advocates testified in front of the Economic Matters Committee, that more technical support will be available so that smaller applicants won't get squeezed out by companies that can hire expensive lawyers.
"We've capped the amount of licenses that the individuals can have," Del. C.T. Wilson, who sponsored the bill, said. "The goal is we don't want anybody coming in and dominating the market. We want individuals from the state, from our area, to be able to come in and be able to have a license."
HB 556 has more than 80 pages of proposed regulations. It proposes that the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission be renamed "to be the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission; establishing a regulatory and licensing system for adult-use cannabis."
There are concerns about enforcement, though, since historically, Black communities have been punished more heavily for using small amounts of drugs.
"To be clear, they're not police officers. But beyond that, they're not chasing kids down," Del. Wilson said when answering questions about who will conduct enforcement. "This is regulating business. Without enforcement, these licenses that we're giving out become useless and meaningless, because they can't make money. And these minority businesses that we're trying to develop will fail."
The Associated Builders and Contractors, which supports thousands of constructions companies, wants the ability to randomly test their workers for impairment.
"One miscommunication, one misjudgment, one inch, one second can be the difference between a normal day and a tragic fatality," Joe Xavier, a senior director of health and safety with the association, said. "Construction companies need the flexibility and the ability to utilize policies, practices and tools to keep their work-force safe and to keep them free from impairment while at work."
