Maryland lawmakers have approved legislation that will create a recreational marijuana market in the state by this summer.
Democrat Gov. Wes Moore has said he will sign off on House Bill 0056, which legalizes the sale of recreational cannabis to adults 21 and over beginning July 1.
“This is not the perfect vehicle, but it’s [the] best we can do with the information that we’ve had… We want to make sure that we create the access that we can and that we on July 1 can fulfill our duty to our citizens who apparently wanted recreational marijuana,” the Democrat said. The legislation that passed Friday would tax recreational sales at 9%. It would also send 35% of the tax revenue generated by recreational sales to a community reinvestment fund. A Cannabis Public Health Fund and a Cannabis Business Assistance Fund would each get 5%.Medical dispensaries are still exempt from paying the tax, but they’re also first in line to transition into becoming recreational dispensaries once the law takes effect later this year.
Mr. Wilson, who cosponsored the bill in the House, said that would mean no dispensaries could be built in Mr. Hartman’s district which includes Ocean City.The amendment failed by a 37-103 vote, keeping the bill’s current language of preventing dispensaries within 500 feet of those locations intact.
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