Maryland Recreational Cannabis

Social equity licensing application will open in Maryland in September of 2023. The second round of licensing, in May 2024, will be open to non-social equity applicants.

On Feb. 3, 2023, Maryland state lawmakers introduced S.B. 516, cross-filed as H.B. 556, providing a regulatory framework for cultivating, producing, and selling adult-use marijuana. Licensees physically and actively engaged in the cultivation, processing, or dispensing of medical cannabis and those businesses preapproved for licensure on or before October 1, 2022, shall pay a one-time conversion fee to operate a medical cannabis and adult-use cannabis business. On or before July 1, 2023, the Cannabis Regulation and Enforcement Division (the “Division”) will convert eligible licenses that satisfy the conversion fee requirements.

Under the law, there are three new types of licenses added: micro licenses, incubator space licenses, and on-site consumption licenses.

• Cultivation Licenses: can grow cannabis plants, dry, cure, package, process cannabis-infused products, and sellwholesale to other licensed Maryland cannabis businesses.
  • Micro license: shall not operate more than 10,000 square feet of indoor canopy or its equivalent. 100 micro Growers licenses available.
  • Standard license: 75 standard Growers licenses available.

• Processor Licenses: authorizes the acquisition, possession, processing, and sale of cannabis from adult-use cultivators to licensed processors or distributors.
  • Micro license: shall not process more than 1,000 pounds of cannabis per year. 100 micro-Processor licenses available.
  • Standard license: 100 standard Processor licenses available.

• Dispensary Licenses: shall authorize the acquisition, possession, sale, and delivery of cannabis-to-cannabis consumers.
  • Micro license: Dispensaries holding a micro license shall operate a delivery service that sells cannabis or cannabis products without a physical storefront, provided the licensee employs fewer than ten employees. 200 Dispensary licenses available.
  • Standard license: 300 standard Dispensary licenses available.
• Incubator Space Licenses: authorize licensees to operate a facility within which a micro licensee may operate. 10 licenses available.
• On-Site Consumption Licenses:authorize licensees to operate a facility where individuals can smoke, vape, or consume cannabis. 50 licenses available.

Social Equity Applicants

• First-round application submissions for all license types are limited to social equity applicants.
• The Division shall enter each social equity applicant that meets the minimum requirements into a lottery and issue to social equity applicants not more than:

1. Standard Licenses:20 Grower Licenses, 40 Processor Licenses, and 80 Dispensary Licenses.
2. Micro Licenses:30 Grower Licenses, 30 Processor Licenses, and 75 Dispensary Licenses. Second-round application submissions for Micro Licenses are limited to social equity applicants.
3. Incubator Space Licenses: 10 Licenses

Should the Office of the Attorney General determine that applicants awarded the above-noted licenses (referenced in 6. b) are not diverse, and a disparity study confirms such findings, remedial measures will be taken to assist minorities and women.

The Division shall not issue more than the below number of licenses per type, which includes converted licenses.

Interested in applying for a cannabis license in Maryland? Contact us at info@thecannabisbusinessadvisors.com or call 602.290.9424!

Want to learn more about Maryland’s Cannabis program? Visit our state page!