Pubdate: Sun, 29 Nov 2015
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2015 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: Erin Cox

MEDICAL POT DISPENSARIES SEEK TO OPEN ACROSS STATE

Entrepreneurs want to build medical marijuana dispensaries pretty 
much everywhere in Maryland.

Last week the state's medical marijuana commission released a 
geographic breakdown of the 811 dispensary applications it received 
this month - an uptick from preliminary numbers.

More than a quarter of dispensary applicants proposed building 
storefronts in Baltimore City or Baltimore County, and a third of 
them applied to build in the Washington suburbs. The interest in 
those areas, however, does not mean they will be inundated with 
dispensaries. Only two are allowed in each of the state's 47 
legislative districts.

At least 89 dispensary applicants applied to be in the city, with 
another 15 in a district that straddles the city-county line. In 
addition to those, there were 55 more applicants in just two central 
Baltimore County districts.

The most licenses sought in a single district were in Takoma Park, 
where there are 15 applicants for every available license. Other 
areas with intense interest include Rockville, where 29 applied, and 
Frederick with 25. Talbot County on the Eastern Shore received the 
fewest applications, with seven.

The data released Tuesday represents the closest look yet at the 
crush of applications to get into the state's nascent medical pot 
industry. The Medical Cannabis Commission received so many that it 
pushed back its timeline for processing them.

The commission has updated the data several times as it tallies the 
number of applications. Officials said they received more 
applications to grow marijuana than previously reported - 146 in all for the 15
available licenses. Another 124 applied for an unlimited number of
licenses to process marijuana into something the dispensaries can
sell, also more than previously reported. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom