The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission this week passed a new rule that will allow cannabis business owners to use their licenses as collateral for bank loans, reported the Baltimore Business Journal.

Chick chick, the lending director of CFG Bank – one of the few banks in Maryland known to lend to medical cannabis companies – called the new policy “a step in the right direction.”
Running a cash-only business does not come with an official price tag, but it has two significant costs, public safety and inefficiency, according to Eric kaufman, Director of Revenue at Dama Financial.
The higher price of cash exploitation is the security threat it poses. Many cannabis companies spend hours counting currencies. It also presents a problem with paying utility bills and covering basic expenses using prepaid debit cards and other heterodox payment methods.

Maryland’s new policy sets out the framework for a lender to obtain security over the proceeds of a commission-approved cannabis sale from a producer, processor or dispensary.

The new policy addresses:
● Eligibility conditions for secured creditors;
● The process for a secured creditor to obtain security over the right to the proceeds of a Commission-approved sale of a medical cannabis license;
● Eligibility conditions for a receiver;
● Security protocols applicable to receivers; and
● The provision of a medical cannabis license.
Jacquie Cohen Roth, who runs CannabizMD, an education and consulting company, noted that allowing licensees to use their license as collateral will help local and minority-owned businesses break into the field, even if it won’t help them. not necessarily to thrive. “It requires educational and legal support that most people just don’t have,” said Cohen Roth.

Women and under-represented minorities in the cannabis industry:

According to a new report by the research team at MJBizDaily, the cannabis industry is no exception to the general under-representation of women and minorities in the overall US economy.

In 2021, minority executives were also very low in the charts, accounting for just 13.1% of all executive positions, in line with the average for all U.S. companies.

Some states like New York and Massachusetts are trying to create social equity programs to promote representation. However, due to a lack of economic capital and other concerns, many BIPOCs are unable to qualify for dispensary licenses.

The adult cannabis industry in Massachusetts consists of almost 16,667 active registrations of marijuana establishment agents: 35.4% identify as female and 64.1% identify as male, while 72.4% identify as white, 7.6% identify as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish and 6% identify as black or African American.