October 15th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
Another company seeking to grow marijuana for medicinal use is crying foul after it was skipped over by the state commission that awards the lucrative licenses in favor of a lower-ranked applicant. The Baltimore Sun reports Maryland Natural Treatment Solutions was ranked 17th among applicants for one of the 15 grower licenses allowed by law. It appeared the company was out of luck. The rankings had been arrived at by independent researchers at Towson University under procedures intended to keep politics out of the decision.
But after initially awarding preliminary licenses strictly by those rankings, members of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission decided there wasn't enough "geographic diversity" among the winners. They dropped the applicants that ranked No. 8 and No. 12 from the top 15, and promoted No. 20 and No. 21, saying they wanted to make sure Southern Maryland and the Lower Eastern Shore were represented in the state's new medical marijuana program.
But a commission document shows that the panel disregarded Maryland Natural Treatment's offer to change its plans to grow in Caroline County and locate its operations anywhere in state.
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