Dang, Maryland—your Day One options for legal weed look legit. Baltimore is a top 10 cannabis city in the US and it shows.
Maryland weed shoppers are about to go from maybe two options at your dealer’s house to stores that have almost 2,000 products. And not whack, old stuff either—trending West Coast flavors like Rainbow Belts, and live rosin of Red Velvet. Let’s dig in!
Catch up quick
Maryland legalization starts Saturday, July 1. You can have up to 1.5 ounces of flower, two plants at home, 12 grams of hash, and paraphernalia. Medical patients can have more. Medical patients, shop right on Leafly and get delivery. Everyone else pre-order on Leafly, and head in for a pickup with your ID and cash.
How much does weed cost in Maryland per gram, eighth, and ounce?
Looking at Leafly menus, we see grams ranging from $8 to $15 and eighth-ounces of flower going for $25 to $50. We’ve seen some solid discounts on half ounces, too—like a $140 half-ounce of Spritzer. There’s this brand Small A$$ Buds that focuses on half-ounces of small buds for about $120. At the top end, Curio Wellness has an ounce of exotic strain The Soap for $480—phew. Don’t forget to factor in a 9% sales tax into your purchase as well.
Where to buy weed in Maryland
About 94 stores should be open Saturday, July 1—making Maryland one of the bigger state launches in the US. On June 16, the Maryland Cannabis Administration published a list of 94 stores eligible to serve all adults ages 21 and up with valid ID. Patients 18+ with valid ID and medical recommendation can also shop.
What’s for sale in newly legal Maryland?
Marylanders love flowers, pre-rolls, carts, edibles, dab and more. They have a pretty sophisticated market and tastes, with a top US weed city—Baltimore—and a mature medical industry. Top strains include Lemon Cherry Gelato, Sour Diesel, and Apple Fritter. Here’s some top strains and more info about them.
Lemon Cherry Gelato
Lemon Cherry Gelato (Sherbet x GSC) has evidently charmed the people of Charm City, and the rest of Maryland. Maryland cannabis lovers prefer flower above all else, and they have refined palates for LCG’s citrus and fruit-forward terp profile loaded with caryophyllene and limonene.
Guava
Guava is Gelato’s fruitier and headier twin—a vartiety of the decade’s most popular and prolific strain. Marylanders undoubtedly love Gelato, but they also keep it tangy and tropical. In the height of summer, Guava’s uplifting effects and fruit-salad palate help you make the most of these long, sunny days.
Runtz
Runtz has traveled far and wide from its Bay Area origins, and it’s found many many fans in the Old Line State. Runtz moves the zaza line forward with the creamy gas of Gelato and Zkittlez’s sour euphoria. Its long list of award winners—not to mention our 2020 Strain of the Year—speak to its versatile flavor profile and consistently mood-enhancing effects.
Sour Diesel
As the saying goes, “make new friends, but keep the old.” Sour Diesel (Chemdog x Super Skunk) is an East Coast classic; an OG that isn’t an OG. For over 30 years, people all over the world have flocked to its petrol fumes and intensely heady effects, and 2023 is no exception. Sour Diesel is Maryland’s favorite sativa, with Jack Herer as a close second.
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The data shows that Maryland likes dem apples. Apple Fritter (Sour Apple x Animal Cookies) by Lumpy’s Flowers toes the bakery and orchard line; consumers get the sharp doughy base of the Cookies family with a tart twist on Diesel, and even a little cheesiness on top. Apple Fritter works for both day and night.
Snoop Dogg OG
Marylanders are dropping their dollars like it’s hot for Snoop Dogg OG, an earthy, pine-laced strain to cleanse the palate after so many sweet strains. Lemon OG and Sour Diesel lend this strain its complex flavors and effects that will have you wanting to kick back with Martha Stewart.
All the “Cakes”
Numbers don’t lie—Maryland smokers have a major sweet tooth. Most of the strains on this list veer towards the dessert category and can trace their lineage back to Gelato. Both Wedding Cake (Triangle Kush x Animal Mints) and Ice Cream Cake (Wedding Cake x Gelato #33) are huge in Maryland thanks to their blend of sweet and savory aromas and effects that perfectly suit a day hike, kickback, or movie night.
The terps of Maryland
Pot’s aroma molecules—terpenes—steer the cannabis experience, so move beyond THC scores. Maryland has a lot of really popular dessert strains, fewer classic sativas, and a few terpene profiles considered rare in the US.
Zaza rules
‘Zaza’ is cannabis slang derived from the word ‘exotic’, as applied to popular cannabis. Used in a sentence Maryland has lots of zaza for legalization’s launch. Varieties that test high in beta-caryophyllene, myrcene, and limonene rule the shelves. That triforce really defines zaza in 2023—you see it all over dessert strains like Runtz and Wedding Cake.
Classics sativas
A counterpoint and distant second to zaza terps? Classic sativas—as shown by terpinolene strains, often combined with myrcene. That’s your Jack Herers, Hazes, Durbans and the like. Reviewers report more energetic and lighter effects from this class.
True rarities
Not to be confused with exotics—which are the most common—truly rare terps profiles of Maryland include ocimene strains, as well as humulene, and pinene-dominant types. We see this same breakdown on the West Coast, because Maryland’s market is very sophisticated and trends travel at the speed of a light.
Maryland’s top cannabis brands
Maryland has 38 grower/processors for legalization’s launch, and they have years of experience making medical cannabis products. Legalization will launch with the full suite of good stuff, just like out west. Let’s run through some big players.
- District Cannabis rules with their Gelato Cake and Cherry Chem.
- Sunmed growers sell a lot of Snoop Dogg OG.
- And Curio Blue Dream cartridges sell quickly.
- Jerry Garcia’s brand Garcia Hand Picked has done a great job in other states—their Florida Kush does really well.
- Remedy Baltimore has a Cookies brand corner with Georgia Pie.
- Maryland weed smokers can puff like their favorite rapper Wiz Khalifa on day one, too. Khalifa Kush brand Khalifa Kush is on shelves.
See also: Modern cannabis brand Ice Cream Cake.
For rosin and live rosin-lovers, check out Eden, and their live rosin Red Velvet (a Leafly Strain of Summer 2023.)
Unlike other states, Maryland shops also sell a head shop’s worth of bongs, pipes, and such. Classic pipe brand Jerome Baker has $325 dab rigs in stores.
Maryland’s biggest stores
Welcome to the abundant world of legalization where you face several hundred or up to 1,000 different weed things for sale. In terms of store with the deepest shelves, we’re looking at:
—Grow West Cannabis in Cumberland, MD has a mind-blowing 1,858 products with deals where you get a classy Beboe vape for $1.
—Chesacanna in Cockeysville, MD has 958, including the rare, humulene-rich Maroon Baboon flower.
—Remedy-Columbia has 524 products including high-CBD edibles with a 10:1 ratio CBD to THC.
—Ritual in Curtis Bay, Maryland has 777 items for sale. Their highest THC extract comes from Beezle brand and is 88% THC.
—Kip Cannabis in Cockeysville has 1,024 products. The top shelf tops out at $120 grams of live resin batter, as well as $399 Puffco Peak Pro to put it in.
—And Ethos in Baltimore has 522 items. A single edible starts at $3.
OK, that’s just a taste of the tree for sale on day one in Maryland. Remember to use Leafly to order ahead and skip the line for pickup—just like take-out from a restaurant.
