Maryland Medical Marijuana Panel Will Hire Diversity Consultant
The Maryland Cannabis Commission announced Monday it will hire a consultant to review what steps — if any — it could take to improve diversity in the state's nascent medical marijuana industry.
The consultant will determine if it is feasible to conduct a study of whether minorities have been unfairly excluded from the industry, among other tasks. Such a determination would allow Maryland to consider race when awarding licenses to grow, process or distribute marijuana for medical use.
The announcement follows the filing of a lawsuit alleging the commission improperly ignored race when evaluating applicants for licenses, and calls by African-American lawmakers to halt the licensing process.
Nearly all the firms that have won preliminary licenses are owned by white men.
A state law requires the commission to "actively seek to achieve" racial diversity.
The commission has said it was following the advice of the state attorney general's office when...
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