The Maryland Department of Commerce is set to grant $40 million to cannabis business owners who for a certain number of years have lived or attended school in communities where charges for possession of the drug have been disproportionately high.
Beginning Aug. 1, eligible businesses that aren’t yet operational but are pre-approved for a license before Oct. 1, 2022, can apply for up to $5 million, which they can choose to receive as a lump sum or as a no-interest loan with a five-year term.
This second round of Cannabis Business Assistance Fund grants is part of the state’s push to ensure the recreational cannabis industry creates opportunities for Black, brown and other communities targeted in the decades-long war on drugs and criminalization of cannabis in the U.S.
“By focusing this round of funding on social equity applicants, we can ensure investments go towards business in communities that have been historically overlooked, and ultimately provide new opportunities for residents throughout Maryland,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement last week.
Upon taking office in January, Moore freed up $40 million in withheld funding for the Cannabis Business Assistance Fund in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
Moore, according to his office, budgeted another $40 million for the fund in fiscal year 2024, which began July 1.
Over the next five years, 5% of revenue from cannabis sales taxes will go to the fund.
The Department of Commerce is expected to prioritize grant applicants from communities hurt most by historical cannabis criminalization and people who’ve been convicted of violating a law that criminalized the drug.
The first round of grant funding focused on helping medical-use businesses pay to convert their licenses for adult-use sales.
Processor and grower licensees were eligible for up to $50,000, and dispensaries could receive up to $25,000.
The first round of applications closed June 30 and the Department of Commerce was still reviewing applications as of Wednesday. It’s not yet clear how much money the department will award or to how many businesses, spokesperson Karen Glenn Hood said in an email.
Future rounds of funding will be for historically Black colleges and universities offering cannabis-related programs, businesses applying for licenses and business development organizations, including incubators, according to the Department of Commerce.
The department will also grant money to train and assist small businesses, including minority and women business owners and entrepreneurs looking to participate in the state’s week-old adult-use cannabis industry.
Lawmakers established the Cannabis Business Assistance Fund during the last legislative session, as they laid out the regulations, licensing and taxes for businesses that would soon sell recreational cannabis. The fund was meant to help small businesses and entrepreneurs enter the industry.
Marylanders voted in November 2022 for cannabis legalization. Usage and possession of a certain amount, including up to 1.5 ounces of flower, became legal on July 1 for people 21 and older.
On the day cannabis became legal, medical and recreational retail sales exceeded $4.5 million, more than the total retail sales for medical cannabis in all of 2022, which was nearly $4 million, according to the Maryland Cannabis Administration.
Nearly 80% of sales on July 1 were for recreational cannabis.
Over the first week of legalization, from July 1 to July 7, cannabis sales totaled $20.9 million.
C
Recent Comments