Medical cannabis: ‘multi-million dollar’ industry across Md.

we’re delving deeper into a story we told you about yesterday. officials in maryland — releasing the list of top applicants — hoping to grow and process medical marijuana. a handful of the fifteen growers and processors moving onto the next step in the application process — are located right here on delmarva. 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng spoke to an official from worcester county today. we’re told if the two companies win final approval — it could benefit the economic landscape of the county. 17:51:47 our prominent industries include of course tourism, agriculture, health care manufacturing…52 track 1 and now possibly — medical cannabis. merry mears is the director of worcester county economic development. mears tells 47 a-b-c — monday’s announcement of two top applicants selected for growers and processors being from worcester — could mean big bucks for the county. if shore natural r-x and the blair wellness center do gain final approval — she explains that means increased tax revenue but also — what she calls spin-off jobs. 17:54:04 some that come to mind immediately are maybe some sales companies…they might want to contract out with, do their sales with them 16 or testing facilities. 20 track 2 according to mears — medical cannabis is a multi-million dollar business across the state of maryland. and with potential job opportunities — it could off-set worcester county’s unemployment rates. they generally stand between seven to nine percent during the summer months. but it’s around 14 percent between november and february. 17:53:40 they will be employing folks such as medical doctors, pharamacists, security personnel, sales people 47 and because of the industry, these will be higher than average wage paying jobs 51 track 3 now that the top growers and processors have been approved — the maryland medical cannabis commission says quote “the real work begins for these companies”. in a prepared statement — executive director patrick jameson says in part — quote “we will implement a rigorous stage two background and financial due diligence process for these entities prior to issuing a license.” track jameson stresses — a pre-approval is not a license. lili zheng, 47 a-b-c. so — what happens to all