MJBiz - May/June 2024 - 24

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS State by State
Maryland
State regulators awarded 174 adult-use marijuana social equity licenses.
A total of 1,515 eligible social equity applicants were entered into a lottery conducted
March 14 for one of six license types, according to the Maryland Cannabis Administration.
The lottery represented the first major expansion in the state's recreational cannabis industry
since Maryland legalized adult-use marijuana in November 2022.
Recreational sales launched in July 2023 at existing medical marijuana dispensaries that
were allowed to convert to adult use.
The social equity licenses awarded in the lottery included standard and micro retail, cultivation
and processing permits. There were 44 different lottery pools, organized by geographic
region or city or county. Some pools awarded as many as 11 licenses based on population.
Massachusetts
Gov. Maura Healy awarded the first grants-totaling $2.35 million-from the state Cannabis
Social Equity Trust Fund in mid-April. The grants mark the launch of Massachusetts' longdelayed
social equity fund intended to support small businesses in the state.
The initial 50 grants ranged in amount from $20,000 to $50,000, " with an additional
$20 million expected to go out to businesses in the future, " the Boston Business Journal reported.
Paid for by the state's 15% marijuana sales tax, the trust fund was created in 2022, but
" issues " with " the way the law was drafted " kept the fund " empty for many months, "
CommonWealth Beacon reported.
Healy corrected those issues with her midyear budget package approved in December,
according to the Boston Business Journal. The administration had promised that an additional
disbursement from the fund of up to $27.4 million would be available as soon as later this year.
Minnesota
Cannabis retailers selling marijuana in Minnesota before the state officially launches regulated
adult-use sales risk getting a $1 million fine and jeopardizing their chances of being awarded
MJ business licenses when they become available.
That was the warning from Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) in March,
when the agency announced it would crack down on retailers who sell marijuana before state
law allows, according to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
Minnesota's recreational cannabis market is expected to launch in early 2025. The OCM is
still working on creating a licensing system.
According to the Star Tribune, the OCM has received complaints about retailers selling illegal
marijuana that's labeled as hemp, a practice common in other states that don't have regulated
MJ markets.
Missouri
Nine of the 48 marijuana social equity licenses issued by Missouri regulators last fall have
been revoked because the applicants were deemed ineligible.
Eight of the revoked licenses were issued to out-of-state operators, and one was a wholesale
facility, the Missouri Independent reported, citing the state's Division of Cannabis Regulation.
One of the companies that lost its license, Frankenstein Enemy in Columbia, worked with
Michigan-based Canna Zoned MLS to obtain its permit. Canna Zoned allegedly submitted 104
applications and won two dispensary licenses in Missouri's lottery for social equity permits.
Arizona-based Cannabis Business Advisors also was connected to 400 dispensary
applications in Missouri, according to the Independent. Six of those applications received
licenses, but they were later revoked.
Two of the nine companies-Frankenstein Enemy and Seashore Rhythm in Arnold-have
appealed the revocations.
24 May-June 2024 | MJBizMagazine

MJBiz - May/June 2024

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