Rejected Medical Marijuana Grower Wants To Join Lawsuit

BALTIMORE (AP) — A second company that was denied a preliminary license to grow medical marijuana in Maryland is seeking to join a lawsuit challenging how the 15 potentially lucrative licenses were awarded.

Maryland Cultivation and Processing filed paperwork Wednesday to jointly sue the Maryland Cannabis Commission with Green Thumb Industries Maryland, which filed a lawsuit last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Maryland Cultivation and Green Thumb each submitted applications that ranked initially among the 15 top applicants for licenses to grow the drug, but neither was granted one.

Officials said two lower-ranked companies in southern and southeastern Maryland were chosen instead because state law required there be geographic diversity among winners.

The Maryland attorney general's office, which will represent the commission, declined to comment.