You Won a License in the Maryland Cannabis License Lottery! Now What?

Congratulations! You got a Maryland cannabis license. Licensing is one of the biggest hurdles for a cannabis business.

We love Maryland’s approach to equity. By distributing cannabis licenses to areas where marijuana prosecutions and incarcerations have had the heaviest impact, the state aims to mitigate some of the harm that has been done to those communities. At CE+C, we love this approach and hope more states will follow this sensible equity model.

By Maryland’s deadline in December of 2023, the state received more than 1700 applications for an available pool of 179 licenses. Now that you’ve gotten your license, there are still a few steps left for you to take with the state.

Next Steps by the Maryland Cannabis Administration for Maryland Cannabis License Winners

The cannabis administration will begin with a deeper review of applications and awarding conditional licenses.

Cannabis License Review by the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA)

The MCA will be contacting winners to request additional documentation and conduct a review of the application. This ensures everything aligns with social equity ownership claims and other requirements.

Maryland Cannabis Licensing Process

Following the review, the MCA will award conditional licenses. This is not the final green light to operate, but allows winners to move forward with specific tasks like securing a location and developing detailed plans for the Maryland cannabis facility.

Cannabis Business Plans, Financing, Permits, and More

Now that you have your Maryland cannabis license, this is where the real work begins! You will need to further develop your cannabis facility business plan, secure funding, buy or lease a compliant location, select and purchase equipment, build out your facility, and obtain necessary permits. Each of these processes takes specific expertise. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of consulting professionals available to help. Working with folks experienced in the cannabis industry can be invaluable during this stage.

Business plans, facilities, and funding are concerns that impact every cannabis business, but there are also specific issues that apply only to processors or growers. You can learn more about those issues in our article about common mistakes in cannabis facilities. The bottom line is that we recommend that you get a professional team involved as early as possible once you have your Maryland cannabis license. Planning mistakes can be very costly, setting your enterprise back financially or delaying your progress from outlay to profitability. The industry and its regulations are complicated, and having people to guide you along your journey is a smart investment.

At CE+C, we provide a full range of engineering services for our clients in the cannabis industry, and we have experience in Maryland. See all of the ways we can help you on our cannabis design services page.