When lawmakers first envisioned a medical marijuana commission, they created a panel of volunteers to look after what was supposed to be limited program of academic centers dispensing the drug.
Three years later, those same untrained volunteers have become closely watched regulators who have presided over the rocky launch of Maryland's multimillion-dollar medical marijuana industry.
Not even half of the preliminary licenses have been awarded, and the process is already mired in a lawsuit and ethics probe. The lack of diversity among licensees has drawn the ire of black lawmakers, including one who pushed to create the program.
"This should have been done completely different," said Del. Cheryl Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat. "There was never any thought given to the idea that this commission would end up with the huge responsibility of issuing these licenses."
