Maryland
Maryland dispensaries prep for reefer rush on July 1
Maryland dispensaries prep for reefer rush on July 1
FOX 5’s Nana-Sentuo Bonsu spoke to a couple of cannabis dispensary owners in Maryland who are getting ready to serve more customers due to the state’s new recreational laws.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. – It’s the last day patients can have dispensaries exclusively to themselves.
“I showed up in the last five minutes before they closed to get my preorder,” said one man, medical marijuana card in tow.
He realizes that once the doors at Remedy Maryland in Columbia open tomorrow things will be different forever.
“I know that there will be a line tomorrow especially being the first day,” he adds.
Mitch Trellis is the co-owner of Remedy. He says the turnout Saturday morning will be huge.
“A couple thousand. It’s going to be wild,” Trellis said.
Trellis is expecting a couple of thousand people to step in to purchase cannabis now that it’s legal in the state of Maryland for recreational use.
Trellis says they are prepared for the crowd and longer wait times.
“It’s not like we are introducing something brand new. We are just opening something that has existed for a long time,” he explained.
For the past five years, marijuana was available for medical use for about 168,000 patients in Maryland.
Starting Saturday, about 4 million adults are eligible to shop at a dispensary.
“We’ve been preparing for July 1 since probably March 1,” said Rebecca Raphael. She’s the chief revenue officer with Curio Wellness.
“It’s about increasing the access,” Raphael said. “We expect there will be early adopters that will come out this weekend because for whatever reason they didn’t feel comfortable getting a medical card and they no longer have that barrier to entry.”
For first-timers, doctors have some advice.
“Try to go for the lowest concentration that you can find, so you know how your body can tolerate and manage that,” said Dr. Aliya Jones with Luminis Health.
While many are looking forward to July 1 – some are weary.
“We had to go through the legal loopholes of having to order it, losing our gun rights. A lot of different barriers. We want to have the same access that we’ve been had with medical cannabis with the discount, pricing, and bulk sales,” said Demetrius Hunt.
Recreational marijuana legal in Maryland starting tomorrow
Dr. Aliya Jones shares what you need to know about recreational marijuana from a health perspective
He’s with an organization that is against the legalization of marijuana.
The manager at Remedy says patients will still be prioritized.
It’s a little too early to tell what the financial impact will be, but patients can expect a slight increase.
Patients like Hunt will not have to pay the 9% sales taxes.
Marylanders will also be able to grow up to two marijuana plants for personal use and be in possession of up to 1.5 ounces.