First Medical Cannabis Cultivator Receives License in Maryland
Anne Arundel County-based ForwardGro is the first company in Maryland to receive a license to cultivate medical cannabis. The warehouse-sized operation will provide medicine for medical cannabis patients in the area.
ForwardGro is the first company among 15 applicants to receive a license to cultivate. The 15 “finalists” received a preapproval license last August. The company received a Stage 2 license, signaling the commencement of Maryland’s medical cannabis program.
The greenhouse operation can house an acre of growing space. “We like to call it cannabis whenever possible, because that’s the scientific term, and I think it’s important we use that, because it is medicine,” Gail Rand, a patient advocate at ForwardGro, told CBS Baltimore. Rand’s son depends on medical cannabis to fight symptoms of epilepsy. “We’re optimistic we’ll have this medicine by early fall,” Rand added. ForwardGro’s connections with former government officials and political donors helped secure its license approval. The company’s part owner Gary Mangum is a top donor to Gov. Larry Hogan.
The beginnings of Maryland’s medical cannabis program have been contentious. Multiple lawsuits have been filed by various applicants that want the program to include more companies. One lawsuit, filed by Alternative Medicine Maryland, alleged that regulators failed to consider racial diversity in their licensing process. Alternative Medicine Maryland, which is owned by minorities, failed to receive approval for a cultivation license. According to court filings, however, Alternative Medicine Maryland did not even make it to the top 60 license applicants in their area. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams issued a temporary restraining order, which blocks the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission from granting new cultivation licenses until a hearing on June 2. ForwardGro, however, appears to be unaffected by the restraining order.
ForwardGro hopes to sell cannabis products by late summer or early fall, when dispensaries have opened to the public in Maryland. Over 6,000 Marylanders have registered to legally consume medical cannabis and 275 doctors have registered with the program to recommend medical cannabis.
