Delaware Senators approve House-Passed Marijuana Legalization Bills In Committee

A Delaware Senate committee has approved two House-passed bills that legalize marijuana and establish regulations for adult-use.

On Wednesday, both pieces of legislation by Rep. Ed Osienski were approved by the Senate Health & Social Services Committee.

Senator Trey Paradee (D), the senator who is currently carrying the bill in Senate said to members of the panel the existing state law that only decriminalizes low level cannabis possession was inadequate.

He said that “the arrests have continued” and that lives had been “turned upside down.” Although a civil offense isn’t as serious as an arrest, citations can’t be erased and are still visible in public records searches. Due to the presence of citations in background checks, many Delawareans have missed out on potentially life-changing employment opportunities.

He pointed out that enforcement is disproportionately concentrated on people of color. He also said that Delaware is becoming more “an island in prohibition” as other states seek to implement cannabis reforms.

Today’s hearing was a proud occasion for me. I am excited to vote on both of these bills from the Senate floor.

— Sen. Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) March 15, 2023

To voice concerns about the potential impact of broader legalization on Delaware’s existing medical cannabis program, a representative from Delaware Division of Public Health testified at the hearing.

She said that “in other states, medical marijuana programs were decimated after adult use laws were passed. Some states found that more than 75 percent of patients didn’t renew their cards.” “The only funding mechanism for the medical cannabis program is card and licensure fees… DPH wants to ensure patients have access to rigorously tested marijuana products regardless of whether or not recreational marijuana is available.”

Osienski (the House sponsor) took a bifurcated approach to the reform. The legislature passed the basic legalization proposal and narrowly defeated the regulatory measure. Gov. Gov.

47 ABC News recently heard Osienski say that, should the governor try to veto the legislation once again, he is “optimistic” about the possibility and feels “pretty good” that they have the votes to override the decision.

“I think my coworkers are saying, “OK, you know you had one chance at vetoing it, you succeeded, but don’t count on us supporting it again,” he stated.

The House passed both the simple legalization bill as well as the sales regulation measure with enough votes to overcome any potential veto.

The next step for the Senate’s legal possession measure is a vote on the floor, while the Finance Committee will first consider the commercial bill.

This is what the HB1 legalization bill would do:

The state statute will be amended to allow adults aged 21 or older to possess, use, share, and purchase up to one ounce of marijuana.

To prevent abuses of the “gifting” provision, the bill states that “adult sharing”, which includes giving away cannabis “contemporaneously” with other reciprocal transactions between the same parties such as the exchange of non-marijuana items, is not allowed.

Public consumption and the growing of cannabis would be prohibited.

For a first offense, anyone under 21 engaging in such activities could be subject to a $100 civil penalty. However, police could choose to issue a citation instead of a fine.

This is an overview of key provisions in the HB2 regulatory bill.

This legislation would create the basic framework for a regulated cannabis commerce system for adults in the state.

The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement would regulate the market via a new Office of Marijuana Control Commissioner.

During the first 16 months, regulators could approve as many as 30 cannabis retail licenses.

In the licensing scoring process, applicants who can demonstrate that they will provide a living wage and health insurance coverage for sick and unpaid leave, and are focused on diversity in hiring, would be given priority.

7 percent of the revenue from marijuana businesses would be donated to the “Justice Reinvestment Fund”, which supports restorative justice and workforce development. It also provides technical assistance for economically disadvantaged persons.

The fund could also be used to “create or develop technology to aid with the restoration of civil right and expungement criminal records.” However the legislation does not provide for automatic expungements.

The bill will provide licenses for conventional retail, cultivator and manufacturer licenses as well as laboratory and laboratory licenses for laboratory and traditional retail. It also provides for microbusiness licenses for social equity (reserved to applicants who are Delaware residents with majority ownership).

By ordinance, localities could prohibit the operation of marijuana businesses in their region.

A 15% sales tax would apply to adult-use marijuana. The tax on medical cannabis products would not apply.

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Advocates are growing more optimistic about the prospects of the legislation’s prospects, given the fact that there were more progressive legislators elected to the legislature last year. Delaware legislators are also being affected by regional developments.

The regulatory bill contains tax components and requires approval from three-fifths of legislators. A simple majority is required for the basic legalization measure.

After an earlier proposal that contained both components had been rejected by the House, Osienski decided to disassemble the measures from the previous session. It failed to meet the three-fifths voting requirement.

The Senate passed a resolution urging the state’s congressional representatives to support legislation to repeal federal cannabis prohibition.

Separately, Carney in October vetoed an more specific bill which would have clarified that patients who use medical marijuana are not prohibited by law from purchasing, possessing, or transferring firearms.

According to a poll that was released in , a strong majority of Delaware voters support legalizing cannabis. Nearly three out four Democrats are also behind the reform that the state’s Democratic Governor vetoed last January,.