The Medical Marijuana Application Process for Growers, Dispensaries, and More

Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have some combination of legalized cannabis, either decriminalization, “adult use” (recreational) and medical markets. Groups like NORML, the National Cannabis Bar Association, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy are advocating on both the state and federal levels to end the cannabis prohibition. News coverage in the last election cycle spent considerable time covering states like Montana, Nevada, California, and Florida that voted by ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana or adult use markets. Overall, the marijuana industry grew to $6.9 billion in sales in 2016 and is predicted to hit $50 billion by 2026.

Once a state votes on a ballot measure or the state legislature passes a bill opening the door to legalization, states must still create an application process to select license holders. The licensing process can be administrative or highly competitive depending on the state. In Nevada, licensees filled out applications and state regulators picked winners out of the state lottery machines. States like Maryland, New Jersey, and New York used a highly competitive application process that regulators graded on a point system.

This course, presented by Bridget Hill-Zayat and Matthew Schweber, reviews the application landscape and addresses some of the current and potential future advancement of the industry.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Review the current states with legalization and the general characteristics of those markets.
2. Identify the different types of licenses states award
3. Asses the different types of application processes (competitive v. noncompetitive) and the commonalities found amongst the various states application processes
4. Anticipate the future broadening or retraction of the cannabis industry in the US