Maryland’s Top Marijuana Official Is Stepping Down After Successfully Launching The Legal Market

“Getting our cannabis industry off the ground in Maryland has been no small feat.”

By Bryan P. Sears, Maryland Matters

Maryland is looking for a new cannabis regulator after Will Tilburg—widely credited with the smooth implementation of the state’s adult-use cannabis market—announced he is leaving his job as director of the Maryland Cannabis Admininstration.

Tilburg said Wednesday he will leave the job on December 4.

“What was really important for me was working with the administration so that this is a smooth transition,” said Tilburg, who has worked on the state’s cannabis policy for six years, five of those as the top regulator for both the medical and recreational cannabis industries.

Lawmakers and industry experts credit Tilburg with understanding the patchwork of cannabis laws in the country and knowing what has worked and what has not worked.

Tilburg’s announcement comes nearly 14 months after the first legal sales of cannabis for adult-recreational use in Maryland. He leaves having earned the respect of both the legislature and many in the industry whom he oversees.

“He did the work. That’s what I think earned him the respect. He knew his regulations and his program inside and out. He listened to feedback,” said Jake Van Wingerden, owner of Cecil County-based SunMed Growers and chair of the board of the Maryland Wholesale Cannabis Trade Association.

“He turned this thing on, and we collected $1.2 billion in sales in 12 months, and no one even talks about it, except when the anniversary has come along,” Van Wingerden said. “You look at other states—New York or New Jersey and other states that have done this—and they’re disasters. They’re messes. They don’t have a good footing.”

Tilburg said he does not have another job lined up, but is instead focused on the transition.

“I want to make sure that this transition is right. I’ll figure out me after that,” Tilburg said. “I want to make sure that the hard work of all the people that are part of this agency, and a part of this industry is continued, because the handoffs have been fumbled in other jurisdictions. That’s the real priority now. My work is not done, and I want to get to that finish line.”

Tilburg, a Massachusetts native, came to Maryland to attend law school “and fell in love with the state.” It was working in a clinic during his third year of law school that he was pulled toward public service.

“I did a clinic that worked with the General Assembly and was like, wait, this is a job? You can make policy and pass legislation and help people? So, I never wanted to leave, and I haven’t. This is where my family is now,” he said.

He earned his law degree in 2011 from the University of Maryland School of Law, and a master’s in public health from the University of Maryland School of Public Health in 2017.

Tilburg joined what was then the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission in 2018. Sales of cannabis to medical patients had only recently started after the legislature created the program four years earlier.

Licensing issues and lawsuits—including challenges over a lack of women and Black licensees—delayed the program.

“Getting our cannabis industry off the ground in Maryland has been no small feat,” said Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee Chair Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery).

The idea of recreational sales to adults seemed distant at best.

“We were mired. There were lawsuits, litigation, and we passed the medical program several years before it actually came to fruition,” Feldman said. “Tilburg came in and really got a lot of those issues resolved and dealt with. Some of it required legislation.”

Feldman said the state’s move to recreational use legalization in 2022 likely would not have happened without Tilburg, who became the cannabis commission’s executive director in 2019. The law that created the framework for recreational sales also created the Maryland Cannabis Administration. Tilburg was its first and only director.

In a statement, Gov. Wes Moore (D) called Tilburg “an exceptional leader, devoted public servant, and one of our country’s most respected voices in the cannabis industry.” He said Maryland’s legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis is a national model, and that Tilburg showed “how states can transition into adult-use cannabis in an efficient and equitable way.”

Moore said a search for a successor is already underway.

Tilburg said it was important for him to give Moore enough time to complete that search.

“This is not something that happens very often in the cannabis regulatory space,” Tilburg said of his lengthy tenure. “The average regulator serves about two to three years. I’ve been in this gig now for five. I feel very lucky that I’ve had this length of time, and I’m able to choose the terms on which I’m leaving. So, I’m very grateful and lucky for that, because it’s a tough gig.”

Feldman and other lawmakers said Tilburg was knowledgeable and an honest broker of information.

“There’s the truth and there’s the way you lay out the truth,” said House Economic Matters Chair C.T. Wilson (D-Charles). “He never slanted a story. He was very straightforward. You didn’t have to double-check anything he said. You knew he was giving you the good, he was giving you the bad. He wasn’t giving you the hopeful. He wasn’t giving you wishful thinking. He was just pragmatic.”

Those traits and his responsiveness to the General Assembly earned the respect of legislators—even those who were not supportive of the state’s policy direction on marijuana.

“He is very smart, very ethical. I mean, almost uptight, but I like that,” Wilson said. “For this, that’s what you need—somebody who’s just rigid when it comes to the roles, wants to do the right thing, doesn’t try to run up to the line or across it.”

It was that rigidity that “made him trustworthy,” Wilson said.

“He ran a tight ship, and he didn’t let industry run roughshod, and he certainly didn’t pull any punches,” Van Wingerden said. “Just look at the list of consent orders and fines that have been levied on operators.”

Van Wingerden noted that SunMed was not one of the licensees sanctioned by state cannabis regulators.

“He didn’t let anybody get away with anything, but he was always reasonable.” Van Wingerden said. “I think he did a wonderful job of balancing the desires of the legislature … the industry—the producers, the dispensaries—and the patients-slash-customers.

“He was just kind of right down the middle of the road. Straight as an arrow. That’s why he garnered so much respect and trust,” Van Wingerden said.

And while Tilburg’s announcement came as a surprise to lawmakers and the industry, none so far are worried that his departure creates uncertainty in the Maryland cannabis market.

“He has a very good, deep team there,” van Wingerden said of the cannabis administration. “It’s steady. It’s a group of good people down there. I think the governor and his staff have big shoes to fill. They’re going to need to find someone, but it’s stood up. The program is stood up. He’s responsible for that, and he did a phenomenal job. We don’t need any changes. We don’t have any major issues. We just need to let it keep going steady.”

Wilson said Tilburg’s successor should be good with policy and administration, but should have no direct connection to the industry or be a cannabis advocate.

“That’s why we work so well together on this, because neither of us were marijuana advocates,” Wilson said of Tilburg. “You meet a lot of people who are like, ‘Oh, marijuana is the second coming of Christ. It’s what’s going to save this world.’ That wasn’t us.

“Because of that, we were able to see with a very plain lens the way this should work. I believe that led to us creating the best cannabis laws in the nation, without a doubt, as far as setting up the license infrastructure,” Wilson said.

For now, Tilburg said he’s looking forward to more time with his wife and their twin sons.

“My wife Nadia has been so supportive throughout this,” he said. “Working here is not like working a typical state job. This is also a startup. You have to be able to do a lot of different things, because we’re still building it. It’s all hours and weekends.

“That’s part of it, and I love that. But I do have a family that I’d like to see more, and boys that are…in pre-K and already in sports and stuff. There’s certainly a desire for me to be able to be more present and have that better balance moving forward.”

What lies next for Tilburg remains as open a question as who will succeed him.

“For the first time in my adult life, I don’t have a job. That’s a little scary, but it’s also exciting,” Tilburg said. “I want to take some time and figure out what is next.”

He shrugged off questions about moving into the world of lobbying.

“I feel very passionate about public service,” he said. “I love the state. I imagine that I will be trying to find something where I can continue that service, which is really important to me.”

This story was first published by Maryland Matters.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.