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Judge orders temporary halt to new Maryland medical marijuana licensing

May 26th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Maryland’s medical marijuana program faces a potential new delay after a judge Thursday ordered a temporary halt to the program pending a hearing as part of a lawsuit that alleges regulators failed to consider racial diversity in licensing businesses. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams granted a temporary restraining order barring the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission from granting new li­censes to grow medical marijuana until a June 2 hearing.

The lawsuit by Alternative Medicine Maryland, a majority-black-owned company that failed to getdidn’t get a license, argues that regulators failed to consider minority ownership despite a legal mandate to “actively seek to achieve” racial and ethnic diversity.

In a one-page order, Williams said he granted the motion “on the grounds that irreparable harm will result to plaintiff in the form of loss of ability, once all licenses are issued” to other businesses.

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