The Frederick County Council is considering a disputed proposal to allow medical marijuana cultivation on land zoned for agriculture.
County land-use regulations currently allow medical marijuana cultivation only in industrial zones. The Frederick County Farm Bureau opposes the bill, which is scheduled for a vote Tuesday evening.
Opponents say they consider medical marijuana cultivation a form of drug production. Critics also have raised security concerns.
Supporters include local farmer Larry Gude, who applied for but did not receive one of the 15 preliminary grower licenses that the Maryland Cannabis Commission awarded earlier this month. Gude and a business partner had planned to grow marijuana in a greenhouse on his family farm.
The bill would create an eight-year pilot program open to those who applied for a state license.
