Curio Wellness, which sells cannabis products to Maryland dispensaries, operates a massive cultivation facility in Timonium. WTOP got an inside look at the process.
Monday marks one year since Maryland legalized recreational marijuana, and the industry has been slowly growing.
This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker.
In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker.
Behind the scenes at a massive Md. marijuana facility
There are now about 100 dispensaries spread throughout Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City, with the state taking in more than $40 million in tax revenue over the past year.
Maryland taxes recreational marijuana sales at a rate of 9%.
Curio Wellness, which sells cannabis products to Maryland dispensaries, operates a massive cultivation facility in Timonium.
According to the company, demand for marijuana more than doubled after the state fully legalized recreational use for people at least 21 years old. Before that, it was only legal for medical patients.
“As the market grew, we started to understand what the consumer was looking for and what kind of potency,” said Wendy Bronfein, chief brand officer with Curio Wellness.
Bronfein took WTOP on a behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s facility, which comprises several warehouses stuffed full of rows and rows of marijuana plants.
The rooms are highly controlled with LED lighting and automatic watering systems.
“We have these white walls that are actually akin to what’s inside of a refrigerator,” Bronfein explained. “They provide a lot of insulation.”
It is a sophisticated and time-consuming process as each plant is guided through its entire life cycle, from a tiny baby plant to tall stalks that are covered with flower.
The facility generates 300 pounds of marijuana flower each week.
“Ultimately, when they’ve reached their full maturity, we harvest them,” said Bronfein. “That flower is then packaged and sold.”
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![hands sorting marijuana plant](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-close-up-and-cropped.png)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![rows of marijuana plants at a facility](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-rows-and-rows-yellow-light-1672x1254.jpeg)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![The rooms are highly controlled with LED lighting and automatic watering systems.](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-tiny-plants-technicolor-1672x1254.jpeg)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![tiny marijuana plants](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-teeny-bright-lighting-1672x1254.jpeg)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![marijuana plants](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-plant-mid-shot-1672x1254.jpeg)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
![](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/marijuana-harvest-1672x1254.jpeg)
(WTOP/Nick Iannelli)
WTOP/Nick Iannelli
With the plants taking months to reach their fully mature phase, customers sometimes have to wait for a while if they are looking for a particular type of marijuana.
They simply need time to grow.
“It’s several months from the time that you start until that product gets to the store,” Bronfein said. “If something hits that’s new, they’ll get it again in four to five months because it doesn’t happen quickly.”
Maryland is the only jurisdiction in the D.C. region that has fully legalized recreational marijuana.
While it is legal to possess it in both D.C. and Virginia, it is not legal to sell the drug for recreational purposes there.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.