At first, Shore Naturals Rx didn’t make the cut.

The Ocean Pines-based company initially placed 21st out of 145 applicants seeking preliminary approval to grow medical marijuana in Maryland. It needed to be among the top 15 to move forward.

What happened next is the subject of a lawsuit filed this week in Baltimore City circuit court.

The Natalie M. LaPrade Medical Cannabis Commission bumped two companies out of the top 15 and reached down to Nos. 20 and 21 — Shore Naturals — to replace them. GTI Maryland, one of the two firms that got moved down, claims in court documents that the commission’s reasoning “defies logic.”

“We are filing this lawsuit because the Commission’s removal of GTI from the top 15 list was improper and illegal,” said Pete Kadens, GTI’s CEO, in a statement. “We earned pre-approval for a license, and we want what is rightfully ours. Any further delay will only hurt patients who need medical cannabis to ease their suffering.”

GTI had been ranked No. 12, according to a grading system performed by Towson University. The identities of the applicants were blocked from the analysts to prevent bias, officials say.

The commission, however, changed the order in the name of what it called “geographic diversity.” GTI, which had planned to do business in Washington County, was taken out of the top 15.

A spokeswoman for the medical marijuana commission declined to comment on the lawsuit, she said Tuesday, “on advice of our counsel.”

Shore Naturals had applied to grow marijuana plants in Worcester County and was the lone grower to receive preliminary approval on the Lower Shore. The commission also approved two processors in the area, one in Wicomico and one in Worcester.

For more information visit the source link below.