SALISBURY, Md. - The grass roots of Maryland's medical marijuana industry are budding. 2018 brought a lot of new green for Maryland six years after the state legalized medical marijuana. 2018 marked the first full year of sales. More marijuana-related bills are expected in Maryland's General Assembly in 2019.
Many new dispensaries are popping up across the state as well as on the Eastern Shore. Anthony Darby, CEO of Peninsula Alternative Health in Salisbury say where customers lined up behind the counter this new year's eve-- ready to exchange some green.
"I think we've come leaps and bounds from where we were just a year ago. It's an incredibly exciting time," Darby said. "It's been amazing growth. I mean starting in 2018, we were maybe seeing maybe 30 patients a day and now we're over 130 a day."
Darby's business is one of 71 licensed dispensaries now in the state where profits are higher than ever and even more are expected to open up next year, including one dispensary in Cambridge.
But while business blossoms, legislation, including recreational use, are likely slower to pass in the upcoming legislative session.
"It's really going to be hard to tell what's coming," said Wicomico County Delegate Carl Anderton-R. "It could be this year. They could just throw it out just to see if it gains any traction, but I would suspect as we move into 2020, that's when the serious initiatives will start taking hold and we'll have to be vigilant in whether we oppose or support it."
Darby agrees.
"For us it's super important we get the medical side right," Darby said.
In total, Maryland medical marijuana sales hit around $100M this year.
