The Delaware Senate in a historic vote on Tuesday passed two pieces of legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana and allow dispensaries to grow and sell weed in the First State.
The bills now head to the desk of Gov. John Carney, who has been vocally against recreational marijuana for years. He vetoed the legalization bill last year and avoided the Democratic-controlled Legislature from overriding it.
Spokeswoman Emily Hershman, just before the Senate vote, said in a statement that the governor “continues to have strong concerns about the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in our state, especially about the impacts on our young people and highway safety.
“He knows others have honest disagreements on this issue,” she said. “But we don’t have anything new to share today about how the Governor will act on HB 1 and HB 2 if they reach his desk.”
The governor’s concern was reflected by Senate Republicans on Tuesday. Sen. Eric Buckson, R-Dover, was the only Republican to support the bill to legalize. He, with the rest of the Republican caucus, voted against the regulation bill.
Carney has three options when it comes to these bills: He could sign, veto or let the bill become law without his signature.
Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, in a statement, said she supports the legalization of marijuana in Delaware, once again breaking from the governor.
“Moving forward,” she said, “we need to avoid mistakes made in other states and regulate marijuana properly to keep it out of the hands of our children, to ensure product and workplace safety and to also ensure fairness for businesses and for the medical use of marijuana.”
Prime sponsor Rep. Ed Osienski, a Newark Democrat, said he will continue to have conversations with the governor to “see what’s the best way to proceed.”
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“It’s been a long journey,” Osienski said just after the vote. “I know we’re going to have to sit and wait to see what the governor’s office is going to do. But we’ve done our job. We’ve represented the majority of Delawareans (who) really believe that this should be legalized.”
Delaware is one of the last Democratic-controlled states to not have legalized recreational marijuana. The pitfalls in its passage in recent years have been due to a handful of key Democrats being against the measures. House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf remains the lone Democrat to vote against legalization.
After years of failed attempts, Osienski decided to split the legislation into two bills: one for legalization, the other to create an industry. A similar strategy was deployed last year but ultimately was stymied by Carney’s veto of the legalization bill.
This was the first time the Senate voted on the regulation bill, which required a three-fifths vote. Last year, it failed in the House after a key lawmaker missed the vote due to an illness.
This legislation would create a framework to regulate the growth, sale and possession of weed. Lawmakers say marijuana would be regulated and taxed the same way alcohol is. Delawareans would buy marijuana from a licensed retail marijuana store. The bill would allow for up to 30 retail licenses to be distributed within 16 months of the legislation going into effect.
The bill also creates a marijuana control enforcement fee of 15%. Seven percent of the marijuana tax revenue would go to a Justice Reinvestment Fund. This money, controlled by the Criminal Justice Council, would create grants and services that focus on restorative justice and reducing the state’s prison population, among other things.
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One of the lowest tax rates for recreational weed
Delaware will have one of the lowest tax rates for recreational marijuana in the country. Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, who is a sponsor of the bills, estimated Delaware has lost between $100 million to $200 million in tax revenue because the state did not pass this type of legislation years ago.
The other bill, which just required a simple majority, legalizes the “personal use quantity” of marijuana, which varies by cannabis form, for people ages 21 and older.
Just after the vote, more than a dozen advocates celebrated in the Senate gallery and hugged one another in the halls of the Legislature. Zoe Patchell, the executive director of Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network, said marijuana advocates have been working toward this day for the past 10 years.
Though advocates have made concessions as the bills have been drafted, Patchell said the versions passed in the Senate are “absolutely the best bills” that have been introduced in the General Assembly.
“It’s an exciting, historic day,” she said.
