More than 150 farms applied for the licenses, which are issued by the state Office of Cannabis Management, which oversees the control board.
Next will come retail shops.
Each cultivation license allows farmers to grow marijuana on up to 1 acre of land or 25,000 square feet of greenhouse space.
For now, hemp farmers will supply the first marijuana to retail dispensaries, which were authorized under the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act.
Sales from this year’s harvest are expected to begin as early as the end of the year, when the first retail shops could open.
Under proposed Cannabis Control Board regulations, conditional licenses to sell marijuana will initially go to residents who have a marijuana-related conviction from before March 31, 2021; have a parent, guardian, child, spouse or dependent with a pot conviction before that date; or are a dependent of someone found guilty of a marijuana offense.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.