Pubdate: Thu, 24 Sep 2015
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2015 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Rema Rahman

STATE SAYS COUNTIES CAN'T BAN MEDICAL CANNABIS

The Maryland attorney general's office says counties cannot summarily 
ban medical marijuana operations that are allowed by state law - an 
opinion conflicting with a proposal by Anne Arundel County Executive 
Steve Schuh to prohibit medical marijuana facilities in that county.

Last week, Schuh proposed a county bill to prevent individuals from 
growing, processing or dispensing medical marijuana in all Arundel 
zoning classifications. People with a valid prescription would be 
allowed to possess and use medical marijuana, but would have to get 
it outside the county.

State lawmakers made medical cannabis legal in 2013, and this year 
the law was revised to allow the state to issue up to 15 licenses to 
grow and process medical cannabis, and up to 94 licenses to operate 
dispensaries. Applications are expected to be available this month.

A letter signed by Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Rowe says state 
law allows counties to decide where medical marijuana may be grown, 
processed and dispensed - but does not permit jurisdictions to make 
it impossible to operate "unless a situation unique to that county 
makes one or more types of facilities inappropriate.

"This would require a showing that there are factors in that 
jurisdiction that would differentiate it from the remainder of the 
state," Rowe wrote.

Sen. Bobby Zirkin, a Democrat from Baltimore County and chairman of 
the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, requested the 
attorney general's opinion after learning about Schuh's bill.

Gregory Swain, senior assistant county attorney who drafted Schuh's 
bill, said Rowe's opinion does not accurately reflect Schuh's 
intentions. The administration would not ban medical marijuana, he 
said, but prevent marijuana operations from being allowed in county zoning.

Owen McEvoy, a Schuh spokesman, said the administration still intends 
to push its bill.

The bill faces opposition in Arundel as well. On Monday, three County 
Council members co-sponsored an alternative measure that would limit 
where medical marijuana facilities can go - but not prohibit them.

Councilmen Chris Trumbauer, an Annapolis Democrat who co-sponsored 
the bill, said it's unlikely Schuh's measure will pass, and he hopes 
the administration will withdraw it.

Both bills are scheduled to be heard by the council in Annapolis on Oct. 19.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom