The question of full legalization is off the table in Maryland for this election cycle with no such bills garnering enough votes to make it out of committee. Maryland has laws allowing cannabis for medical use and granting the ability to raise a medical necessity defense in court, but lawmakers are not ready to pull the trigger on recreational cannabis just yet.
On March 14, a bill proposing decriminalization passed easily in the Senate by a vote of 36-8. S.B. 364, which would remove criminal penalties for possession of less than 10 grams of cannabis, is now in the hands of the House Judiciary Committee. Similar legislation stalled in the same committee during the last legislative session.
P. Aiden Hunt 