MD Monthly Puff: Maryland Cannabis Regulations 2026 Take Effect
Top Headlines This Month
- ⚖️ Finalized rules take effect, draft amendment comment period closed October 7
- 📋 PharmaCann and Verilife assets go up for receivership sale
- 📋 Marijuana sales hit $917 million through September
- 📋 Dispensaries must report sales tax every transaction November 18
Maryland cannabis regulations saw another round of updates in 2026, and October pulls several threads together at once. A package of finalized rules took effect September 14 while the state opened draft amendments for stakeholder comment, PharmaCann’s Maryland assets went up for sale through a court ordered receivership, and marijuana sales reached $917 million through September. A new Metrc sales tax reporting requirement is also set to start November 18.
⚖️ MARYLAND: MCA OPENS COMMENT ON DRAFT RULES AS SEPTEMBER AMENDMENTS TAKE EFFECT
The Maryland Cannabis Administration released a draft of proposed regulatory amendments to COMAR 14.17 and accepted informal stakeholder comments through October 7, 2026. The draft would raise the number of employees a micro dispensary may employ from 10 to 20, replace the Responsible Vendor Training program with a new Cannabis Agent Training program, and require cannabis agents to report a change of home address within 14 days. It also establishes that conditional licenses may be rescinded if the holder fails to respond to official MCA communication about conditional licensure within 30 days, and it codifies that license renewals may be denied when a licensee has taxes in arrears in any jurisdiction. Separately, a Notice of Final Action printed in the Maryland Register took effect September 14, 2026. Those finalized changes let conditional licensees request up to two extensions of six months based on certain criteria, add sublingual pouches as a new product category with their own packaging and labeling rules, and set minimum standards for licensed growers.
The September 14, 2026 package also removed the earlier “plain” packaging requirement while keeping restrictions on designs that appeal to youth, and it authorizes the MCA to require micro dispensaries to hand customers certain point of sale materials, bringing them in line with standard dispensaries. Taken together, the two tracks mean Maryland cannabis retailers face changes to staffing limits, training, renewals, and what products reach their shelves, with the finalized rules already governing daily operations and the draft set for a formal comment period lasting 30 days once it prints in the Maryland Register.
Source:
https://cannabis.maryland.gov/Pages/law.aspx
📋 MARYLAND: PHARMACANN OF MD CANNABIS FACILITIES AND VERILIFE DISPENSARIES GO UP FOR SALE IN RECEIVERSHIP
The Maryland cannabis facilities belonging to PharmaCann of MD, along with its Verilife dispensaries in the state, are being sold through a court ordered receivership, according to reporting from the Baltimore Business Journal published September 28. The sale process runs through the receivership rather than a conventional transaction between the parties, and a court hearing is tied to the matter. The listing puts a set of cultivation and retail assets from a national cannabis brand onto the Maryland market at once.
A court supervised sale moves control of these Maryland cultivation sites and storefronts to whoever prevails through the receivership process, which places the timing and terms in the hands of the court rather than the current owner. For the state’s retail market, it means an established dispensary footprint changes hands as a distressed asset.
📋 MARYLAND: MARIJUANA SALES HIT $917 MILLION THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2026
Maryland’s legal marijuana market generated $917.23 million in sales through September 2026, an increase of roughly 5% over the same nine-month period in 2025, according to data from the Maryland Cannabis Administration reported on October 11. That total is about $44 million above the roughly $873 million sold between January and September 2025, and it covers both recreational and medical purchases. September sales came in at approximately $101.5 million, up about 8.3% from the $93.7 million recorded in September 2025. September slipped slightly below August’s $105.2 million but still marked the seventh straight month with sales topping $100 million. July remains the strongest month of 2026 at about $109 million, followed by May at $105.6 million. Even February, the slowest month, cleared $92 million. The state’s dashboard also shows a year-to-date median price of $7.68 per gram, with median annual spending among medical patients at $1,196.86 and registered caregivers at $370.79.
Maryland is now on pace to pass its 2025 annual total of about $1.174 billion. Licensed retailers would need roughly $257 million over the final three months of 2026 to clear that mark, well under the roughly $300 million booked in the last quarter of 2025. Voters approved recreational legalization in November 2022, adult-use sales began in July 2023, and recreational purchases carry a 12% state sales tax while medical purchases stay exempt.
📋 MARYLAND: DISPENSARIES MUST REPORT SALES TAX ON EVERY TRANSACTION STARTING NOVEMBER 18
Maryland marijuana dispensaries will be required to include sales tax information with every retail transaction recorded in the state’s tracking system beginning November 18, according to a notice from the Maryland Cannabis Administration and Metrc. The change was announced in an October 12 industry bulletin, which states that the sales tax field will become mandatory for both sales receipts and delivery transactions entered into Metrc, the statewide marijuana tracking system. Any transaction submitted without a sales tax value will automatically be rejected, and dispensaries using third-party point-of-sale software must configure their systems to transmit the required tax information. The requirement applies to both recreational and medical transactions. Recreational purchases will require a sales tax amount greater than $0, while medical transactions involving registered patients or caregivers may report a value of $0, reflecting the state’s existing medical marijuana tax exemption. Maryland imposes a 12% sales tax on recreational purchases, following an increase from 9% that took effect July 1, 2025.
Metrc will not automatically calculate or populate the tax field, so licensees remain responsible for calculating, collecting, and reporting the correct amounts. The mandatory field appears within the Transaction Details section of the Record Receipts interface, and when a multi-package transaction is missing tax information the system identifies the affected packages and blocks the record until the data is supplied. The measure does not create a new tax or require separate tax returns for individual purchases, but it does give regulators transaction-level tax data tied to each sale.
The Bottom Line
October ties together rule changes, a financial milestone, and a notable sale across the Maryland cannabis market. Finalized amendments are already governing daily operations while draft rules drew informal comments through October 7, marijuana sales reached $917 million through September, PharmaCann’s Maryland assets moved into a receivership sale, and dispensaries face new Metrc sales tax reporting starting November 18.
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