Maryland House shows more support for marijuana use as bill continues to advance

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The Senate still has to decide how to land on its own version of a cannabis bill

Maryland has been one of the latest states to open the door to cannabis legalization after a positive vote by residents in November. As such, state officials are approving some of the proposals to get the market right. In fact, legislation that would create regulations that would allow for recreational cannabis commerce recently received the go-ahead from the Maryland House of Delegates.

Delegate CT Wilson’s legislation had no trouble receiving the go-ahead from House members in a 103-32 vote just a couple of days after the House advanced it through a second reading. With the recent green light, the measure now heads to the Senate. All this comes as the Senate companion version received its first committee hearing late last week.

“This is a $1 to $2 billion industry for Maryland alone. You may not agree with marijuana or the vote our citizens took, but they took it,” Wilson said on the floor. “It is now our obligation to create an adult-use program, and it is our duty to ensure that Marylanders can receive the benefit of ownership in this industry.”

Although the Senate and House versions were identical when first introduced, the House measure went through certain notable modifications in committee before passing the body. Many key officials now expect bicameral lawmakers to work to “resolve” the differences between the two versions as soon as possible. In addition, they want the measure to not take too long to receive their final thumbs up in order to open the doors to the market and reap the huge benefits that would come with it.