Delaware on the road to cannabis legalization

The Delaware House of Representatives has approved a bill to legalize the possession and gifting of cannabis among adults. The Senate must now consider the bill before it can become law.

The bill introduced by Democratic Representative Ed Osienski was passed by a vote of 26 to 14. It is the first part of a two-pronged approach to reform; a companion bill also going before the committee to establish regulations for an adult-use market.

Ed Osienski decided to file the measures separately after the House rejected a previous measure in March.

«This bill ends more than 50 years of prohibition and criminalization in Delaware and allows adults over the age of 21 to legally possess, consume, and freely share less than one ounce of cannabis »(28 grams) for personal use," Osienski said before the vote.

The Bill in Detail

Here's what the law would do HB 371 Delaware:

• The bill would amend state law by eliminating penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis by adults aged 21 and older
• It would also include a section stipulating that adults aged 21 and older could share up to one ounce of cannabis «without compensation.»
• This section specifies that cannabis may not be «given» as part of a simultaneous «reciprocal exchange» or if the gift is contingent on a separate transaction involving goods or services other than cannabis

Here are the main provisions of the supplementary bill HB 372 :

• A cannabis commissioner would be appointed under the authority of the state’s Alcohol and Tobacco Division. This official would be responsible for regulating the industry and overseeing the licensing of retailers, growers, manufacturers, and laboratories
• Licenses would be granted through a competitive process, with advantages given to those who pay workers a living wage, provide health insurance, or meet certain other criteria
• Within 19 months of the bill taking effect, regulators will be required to approve 30 retail licenses, half of which will be allocated to social equity applicants. Social equity applicants would be defined as entities majority-owned by individuals who have previously been convicted of cannabis trafficking or who live in a region disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
• These applicants would also be allocated one-third of the 60 planned cultivation licenses, one-third of the manufacturing licenses, and two of the five licenses for testing laboratories. They would also benefit from reduced application and licensing fees, as well as technical assistance from the government.
• Retail sales of cannabis would be subject to a 15 % tax. No tax would be levied on sales of medical marijuana
• 7% of tax revenue would be used to support a new justice reinvestment fund that would provide grants, services, and other initiatives focused on issues such as diversion, workforce development, and technical assistance for people in communities that are economically disadvantaged and disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, as well as for amnesties
• Growing cannabis at home for personal use would remain prohibited
• The legislation would allow municipalities to establish their own regulations regarding the hours of operation and locations of cannabis businesses, and they would also be authorized to completely ban cannabis businesses within their jurisdictions.
• The bill provides explicit legal protections for state employees who work with the state’s legal market. It would also allow cannabis businesses to claim tax deductions at the state level, which they are currently prohibited from doing at the federal level.