Maryland equity office sluggish in cannabis community fund rollout

The flower of a strain of cannabis called Mango Mint is seen in a grow room at Culta, a medical and recreational cannabis farm in Cambridge. Staff file

Maryland’s plan to use cannabis tax revenue for local community programs faces a series of setbacks from its equity office.

The Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund (CRRF) was established by Maryland state lawmakers in 2022.

The fund allocates 35% of tax revenue from cannabis sales in Maryland for counties to spend on programs serving low-income communities. Counties receive the funds based on the proportion of cannabis possession charges in their jurisdiction relative to the total statewide number from 2002 to 2023.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Office of Social Equity (OSE), which was established in 2023 to manage CRRF, told Spotlight on Maryland that less than 1% of the fund has been spent by counties.

“In February of 2025, OSE collected data from all jurisdictions on CRRF utilization,” the OSE spokeswoman wrote in an email statement. “Of the $89+ million allocated, approximately $451,785 has been spent across two of the jurisdictions.”

OSE was established through legislation in 2023 that required it to publish a report by March of each year that details how CRRF funds were allocated in the previous calendar year. The OSE spokeswoman confirmed to Spotlight on Maryland that no such report has been published.

Maryland launched recreational sales of cannabis in July 2023.

OSE did not respond to questions about why it has yet to publish a report on how CRRF money is spent.

David Williams, the president of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, said Maryland officials need to prioritize transparency for CRRF.

“This could be a game changer for counties to address a lot of issues,” Williams told Spotlight on Maryland. “But when it’s hidden under a blanket of obscurity, you’re not going to see that transparency.”

The Maryland legislature passed a bill this year providing additional guidance on CRRF.

The bill, signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore, provides examples of how counties can use the funds to benefit low-income communities, such as education, homelessness prevention, transportation improvements, job training, community childcare, and programs that benefit individuals and families impacted by incarceration.

State law does not allow for counties to use CRRF to boost law enforcement.

Counties are allowed to spend 15% of their money from CRRF on overhead, according to the bill signed this year. An earlier version of the bill only allocated 5% for overhead spending but was later amended to 15%.

A spokeswoman for OSE told Spotlight on Marylandthat legislation passed this year will help her office provide better oversight of CRRF.

“The low percentage of total allocated funds that have been spent to date was a motivating factor for SB 894 to provide guidance on how the money should be spent most effectively, as well as enhanced engagement, cooperation, and oversight from OSE to ensure that these critical dollars are being spent most effectively,” she wrote in an email statement.

Spotlight on Maryland will have more reporting on how local counties plan to distribute the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars from cannabis sales.

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by FOX45 News and The Baltimore Sun. Have a news tip? Contact Patrick Hauf at [e-mail].