A Montgomery County, Maryland judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the state Medical Cannabis Commission, which will halt the issuance of 4 cultivation and 10 processing licenses, the Baltimore Sun reports. The Legislative Black Caucus also requested that the commission postpone issuing the licenses due to concerns about whether minority-owned firms had an equal chance in the licensing round, which was originally opened in an effort to improve diversity in the state’s cannabis industry.
The lawsuit was brought by Remileaf, who claim the commission’s application process prevented the company from getting their application in on time. According to the report, the commission had extended its original May 24 deadline after problems arose with the application website. According to the lawsuit, a Remileaf representative arrived at the commission offices at 4:55 p.m. on the day of the deadline to submit the paper application but was denied entry into the offices at 5:05 p.m. and the application was not accepted.