Maryland Governor Signs Marijuana Bills To Legalize Homemade Concentrates, Set Consumption Lounge Rules And Shield Conviction Records

The governor of Maryland has signed a series of cannabis bills, including one that will require state officials to automatically shield records for low-level marijuana convictions that have been pardoned from public access, and to more broadly expand expungement eligibility for certain other offenses.

Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Tuesday also gave final approval to a separate bill meant to clear up policies around on-site marijuana consumption businesses, lay out the plan for a second cannabis licensing lottery round and allow business owners to sell their companies to employees ahead of a current five-year waiting period.

And he further signed off on legislation that will allow adults to manufacture marijuana edibles and concentrates for personal use.

“Marylanders who have served their time and turned their lives around are being unfairly blocked from jobs, housing and opportunity—and that doesn’t just hurt them, it hurts all of us,” Moore said ahead of the expungement bill signing.

“I want to be very clear: This is not about letting criminals or repeat offenders off the hook. It’s about common sense,” he said. “The people who will be helped out by this reform are our neighbors and our parents, even people in our congregation. They’re people who just want to move forward but keep hitting a wall made of paperwork.”

Under the legislation, the Maryland Judiciary Case Search can no longer “in any way refer to the existence of records of a charge of possession of cannabis in a case with electronic records if the charge resulted in a conviction that was later pardoned by the governor.”

Last year, Moore granted a mass pardon of more than 175,000 convictions around cannabis and paraphernalia offenses, the records of which will be blocked from public access under the new law. Pardons represent formal forgiveness from the executive, but such relief doesn’t remove the records.

In February, the governor discussed the newly enacted bill, stressing that it will expand opportunities for people to have their criminal records for marijuana expunged by allowing people who violated terms of their parole or probation to petition courts to erase those records.

The legislation will expand the range of offenses eligible for expungement and remove a requirement that people satisfy “parole, probation, or mandatory supervision” before petitioning a court to expunge their criminal records.

Instead, the law will require only that people complete the sentence and wait a certain number of years, depending on the nature of the conviction.

“When someone has a good job and good housing, communities are safer, businesses grow and Maryland gets stronger,” Moore said. “Not every sentence needs to be a life sentence.”

Liz Budnitz, lead counsel with the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), said on Tuesday that the organization “commends Governor Wes Moore for signing SB 432, the Expungement Reform Act of 2025, into law.”

“By creating a more efficient and accessible pathway for individuals to expunge cannabis-related convictions and seek post-conviction relief, this bill is a crucial step in addressing the harms caused by decades of cannabis criminalization in Maryland,” she said. “We are thrilled that more Marylanders will now be able to move forward with their lives, access new opportunities and contribute fully to their communities.”

“At Last Prisoner Project, our mission is to secure freedom and rebuild the lives of those disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. SB 432 embodies the idea that legalization must come with justice and repair for those who paid the price for misguided drug policies,” Budnitz said. “We are proud to support reforms like this bill and look forward to continuing to advocate for policies that prioritize the full reintegration of justice-impacted individuals.”

Meanwhile, Moore also signed legislation dealing with rules around cannabis consumption lounges.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

The state’s legalization law had already contemplated social consumption sites where people could use marijuana, but regulators asked lawmakers to pass a measure with a series of amendments to clarify the rules.

The legislation includes definitions and various mentions for what constitutes a “cannabinoid beverage” that can be offered at consumption lounges. Such drinks cannot contain more than 5mg of THC in a single serving.

The measure also stipulates that on-site cannabis consumption lounges can operate as food service facilities, meaning they’d be able to offer non-infused food products in addition to the approved single-serve marijuana items.

It will also make it so that, before the state holds a second business licensing lottery round, a disparity study needs to be completed to determine whether or not there’s a “strong basis in evidence of business discrimination against firms owned by minorities and women in the Maryland cannabis market.”

If agencies find that such a disparity exists, the lottery will need to be facilitated with “remedial measures” in place to address the issue. If the study doesn’t demonstrate that there’s a disparity, all applicants will qualify for the lottery.

In both cases, the second lottery round will authorize the approval of up to 25 grower, 25 processor and 120 dispensary standard licenses. MCA could also issue up to additional 70 grower and 70 processor microbusiness licenses. And regulators could also approve 10 incubator space and 15 on-site consumption lounge licenses.

While the legislation maintains a current policy stipulating that marijuana business licenses generally cannot be sold for at least five years after they were issued, there will be a carve-out permitting the license transfer to employees through an employee stock ownership plan.

The measure will further allow medical cannabis dispensaries to continue delivering marijuana products to patients until July 1, 2026. Current law sunsets the delivery option in July of this year.

The other cannabis measure the governor signed on Tuesday will let adults make their own edibles and concentrates.

While the state’s cannabis law already allows adults to cultivate their own plants, the legislation expands their options to account for non-flower marijuana products that can be made at home.

The law will continue to prohibit the use of volatile solvents to create cannabis concentrates.

Under the legislation, possession, cultivation and distribution of high-volume cannabis in excess of 50 pounds will also no longer be considered a felony punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. Instead, it will be a misdemeanor carrying a maximum 10 year sentence and/or a $50,000 fine.

It will additionally empower people who are currently facing prison terms that involve a mandatory minimum over cannabis-related convictions to petition the courts for a sentence modification.

The bill also deals with non-marijuana issues, including enhancing penalties for crimes related to firearms violations.

Meanwhile, the Maryland Senate also recently passed a measure to protect for fire and rescue workers from being penalized for off-duty use of medical marijuana, though it did not advance through the House.

Employers could not “discipline, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against the fire and rescue public safety employee with respect to the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment” based solely on a positive screening for THC metabolites under the legislation.

In January, officials in Maryland’s most populous county separately said they were moving to loosen marijuana policies for would-be police officers in an effort to boost recruitment amid a staffing shortage.

Texas Lawmakers Take Up Bills To Expedite Access To Psychedelic Therapy

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

The post Maryland Governor Signs Marijuana Bills To Legalize Homemade Concentrates, Set Consumption Lounge Rules And Shield Conviction Records appeared first on Marijuana Moment.