On November 13, the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) opened the 30-day application period for adult-use cannabis licenses.
Now, qualified cannabis entrepreneurs seeking one of Maryland’s first 179 adult-use business licenses have until December 12, 2023 to apply.
In the first round, the state says it will issue:
- 75 Standard Dispensary licenses
- 16 Standard Growers licenses
- 32 Standard Processors licenses
- 24 Micro Growers licenses
- 24 Micro Processors licenses
- 8 Micro Dispensaries licenses
Successful applicants must have already completed a social equity verification process that’s currently closed, according to MJBiz Daily, though the state has yet to process all the submissions.
Here are some other application restrictions from the state:
- Submission Restrictions: Applicants can only apply for one application per license type, and no more than two applications per round will be accepted.
- Social Equity Verification: Applicants must have at least 65% ownership held by one or more individuals who have been verified as social equity applicants.
- Ownership Restrictions: The MCA will not award any licenses that would violate statutory ownership or control restrictions. This means that while you may apply for both a Standard and a Micro Grower license, the state says that applicants may not be awarded both licenses.
Adult-Use License Business Plan Provisions
The MCA states that they are providing explicit guidance for developing the operational, business, and diversity plans for applicants, which can be found here.
The MCA is also providing detailed instructions on the requirements for submitting an application, which can be found here.
