The Legislative Black Caucus has alleged that African-Americans have been largely ignored in the distribution of preliminary licenses for growing medical marijuana in Maryland. It says that the law expects the program to try and introduce diversity in the license distribution; however, the licensure commission has failed to do so. Gov. Larry Hogan, too is in agreement on this issue. The two houses of the legislature have asked for research that can lay a legal foundation for preferential licensing based on race, and then distribute licenses on the basis of that research.
The reform; however, did not go through in the General Assembly session because the assembly was forced to adjourn as the stipulated time was over. There are two litigants involved in a matter and depending upon whose point of view you agree with, racial diversity has either been upheld or has been ignored.
Of the two contestants, one, Mr. Miller is not very keen on settling the matter legally. Instead, he would rather have a law instituted that would give medical marijuana licenses to both litigants. The other party opines that legislative interference could set a very unhealthy precedent because it would not be addressing the core issue here, which is of racial and ethnic diversity. Also, such a move would perforce bring to the surface political connections of the two parties and further damage the reputation of this program, which is already under a cloud.
The way to resolve the impasse and prevent misuse of political connections and clout would be to have a disparity study conducted. Since the existing license holders have provisional status only till August, that is all the time they have to show progress. If they fail to do so, then new licenses could be awarded based on the new parameters established by the disparity study.
In any case, the commission will be issuing new licenses in 2018. The whole idea is that the legislature should not get involved in the process of improving diversity in a new and profitable business.
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