A top Maryland marijuana regulator says the state’s proactive approach to legalizing cannabis has allowed it to implement a system that effectively balances three key priorities: safety, access and equity.
When the state’s legalization law took effect at the beginning of the month, nearly 100 existing medical marijuana dispensaries were already approved to start serving adult consumers. And a testament to the success of the rollout is the fact that Maryland retailers sold over $10 million worth of legal cannabis in the opening weekend.
Maryland Cannabis Administration’s (MCA) Andrew Garrison says that the state uniquely prepared for the reform, with the legislature forming a work group well ahead of voters approving a legalization referendum last November and officials taking steps like visiting Colorado to tour dispensaries as they contemplated their own regulatory framework.
There was “a lot of thoughtful consideration that went into the broader adult-use policy when it finally got dropped,” Garrison, who serves as chief of MCA’s Office of Policy & Government Affairs, said during an interview on the Rootwurks and VS Strategies podcast Weed Wonks, adding that the early work by lawmakers enabled officials to roll out a program within 82 days of the legislature enacting a
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