It has taken the state six months longer than envisioned to review applicants for the state's new business licenses for medical marijuana, and the process has cost taxpayers about $2 million — nearly five times the original estimate.
When state officials dreamed up a double-blind, anonymous and apolitical process to spend a full day vetting every medical marijuana license application, they wildly underestimated the job and its price tag.
The average cost to review an application is now more than $4,000, according to records provided to The Baltimore Sun.
The latest executive director for the state's medical cannabis commission, Patrick Jameson, publicly rebuked his bosses and predecessors last week, saying the process they set up is "too cumbersome," has taken "too long" and is "too expensive."
In response, the man in charge of implementing the plan told The Sun that he and state officials would have come up with a different plan if they had accurately guessed how many people would apply to get into Maryland's nascent medical cannabis business.
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