The rollout of Maryland’s social equity cannabis program has faced significant delays, with none of the businesses open nearly a year after they were awarded licenses.

Part of the issue is that it’s difficult to attract investors to a business and challenging to find real estate.

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Maryland’s cannabis regulations require that the original social equity applicant retain 51% ownership in the company. A separate social equity partner can own 14% of the company, leaving just 35% for a non-social equity investor.

Further complicating matters is that the original social equity licensee must hold the license for five years, a measure taken after witnessing social equity applicants in other states flipping their licenses soon after they were awarded.

“It can be challenging to entice

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Major cannabis vaporizer companies increasingly are moving manufacturing operations away from China, due in part to a 20% tariff enacted by the Trump Administration.

Now, some operators fear price compression accompanying the tariffs – now totaling 45% for goods manufactured in China – will prompt unscrupulous operators to purchase cut-rate vape cartridges and other inputs, potentially jeopardizing consumer health.

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Executives from many U.S.-based vape companies say the process of finding – and, in some cases, building – new manufacturing operations has been a years-long endeavor that is getting renewed attention because of the tariffs.

Shenzhen, China, is a well-known manufacturing hub located near Hong Kong, a financial and shipping powerhouse; together, the Special Economic Zone still is responsible for producing the majority of

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Changes to Ohio’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis law proposed in a bill introduced this week by House Republicans are less extreme than those passed by the state Senate.

However, the proposed business restrictions, social equity program elimination, THC potency limits and penalties are still a “slap in the face to the 57 percent of Ohio voters who approved” legalization in November 2023, NORML said in a statement.

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House Bill 160, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart, would also restrict the sale of products with hemp-derived THC to licensed marijuana stores and dispensaries, according to the Statehouse News Bureau.

In addition, the bill would:

Cap the number of marijuana stores allowed statewide at 350. Impose a buffer zone of a half-mile between

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