On July 17, 2023, Governor Wes Moore announced the appointment of Audrey L. Johnson as Acting Executive Director of the Office of Social Equity and Courtney Davis as Deputy Director.

Established by the Cannabis Reform Act of 2023, the Office of Social Equity will provide technical support for historically disadvantaged individuals and businesses seeking to enter the State’s adult-use cannabis market. The office will also work with the Cannabis Community Repair and Reinvestment Fund and the Cannabis Business Assistance Fund. Both Johnson and Davis are subject to Senate confirmation in the 2024 session.

Additionally, Governor. Moore announced appointments to the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council under the Maryland Department of Health:

• Dorothy Lennig, incoming director, Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services.
• Madhumi Mitra, Ph.D., a professor of Biology and environmental sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
• Mathew Swinburne, associate director, The Network for Public Health Eastern Region, University of Maryland Francis Carey King School of Law.
• Dr. Deondra D. Asike, clinical associate in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine.
• Dr. Leigh Vinocur, chief medical officer and founder of Ananda Medical Practice.
• Leah Sera, PharmD and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
• Dr. David A. Gorelick, professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
• Jocelyn Bratton-Payne, a social worker and director of substance use disorder programs at New Hope Treatment Center.
• Karrissa Miller, partner at Pinnacle CT, LLC, a Maryland independent testing laboratory and founding partner at US Cannalytics.

The council will be responsible for studying the public health impacts of cannabis use in Maryland. The panel will also make recommendations to mitigate misuse, addiction, and access by persons under 21 years of age.

Advisory council members are not subject to Senate confirmation.