The pursuit to create a recreational marijuana industry in Delaware hit a bump on Thursday, as a bill seeking to regulate the growing and selling of weed failed in the House by one vote.
Rep. Larry Mitchell, House majority whip, was ill and could not vote, said House spokesman Drew Volturo. Mitchell is a co-sponsor of HB 372, the bill that failed, and has voted for marjiuana legalization and regulation bills in the past.
Just after the House vote failed, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ed Osienski, changed his vote to “no,” which allows for the opportunity of another roll call vote.
“Coming into today, I thought it was going to be a good day,” Osienski said. “This whole thing has been up and down, up and down. This was a down.”
Osienski said he believes another attempt for a vote will be made in early June, when the General Assembly returns from its two-week recess.
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Rep. Bill Bush was the only Democrat to vote against the legislation. This time, the bill gained the support of Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden and House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf. The speaker, a former police officer, had previously been vocal about his concerns with legalizing marijuana.
This vote comes just after the General Assembly passed legislation to legalize the possession of 1 ounce or less for Delawareans ages 21 and older. In order to pass the regulation bill on Thursday, Democrats needed three-fifths vote, a hurdle they have consistently failed to meet.
Even if the regulation bill passes in the House, there is still a looming question of, what would Gov. John Carney do?
With both the recreational and legalization bill, Carney – who has staunchly opposed recreational marijuana – has three options: He can sign them, he can veto them or he can let them become state law without his signature. This would happen if he doesn’t take any action 10 days after he receives the bills.
The legalization bill was released to the governor’s office on May 19.
“The governor has been clear that he does not support the legalization of marijuana, and his position has not changed,” said spokeswoman Emily David.
Earlier this spring, Delaware lawmakers decided, after a failed vote, to split the recreational marijuana bill into two. The regulation bill would authorize an initial 30 retail store licenses, 30 manufacturing licenses, 60 cultivation licenses and five testing facility licenses.
There would also be a priority put on making sure people of color and those who have been convicted of previous marijuana offenses would be able to get recreational business licenses.
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Delaware would, under this legislation, tax the plant at 15%, which is lower than in most other states that have legalized marijuana. Lawmakers say this will allow Delaware to be competitive with neighboring states.
It’s unclear how much money Delaware could make by creating a recreational industry. One early estimate from the state auditor in 2021 projected $43 million.
Even though the vote failed on Thursday, advocates are feeling “cautiously optimistic” it will eventually pass due to Mitchell’s previous support, said Andrea Brown-Clarke, a Delaware cannabis patient and activist.
Brown-Clarke said seeing Schwartzkopf and Bolden, a Wilmington Democrat, vote for the bill was significant progress.
Bolden, who has previously not voted on this issue, introduced an amendment to the bill on Thursday that “explicitly provides authority to the City of Wilmington to promulgate rules for the location of marijuana establishments.”
Bolden had raised concerns to Delaware Online/The News Journal about how recreational dispensaries could be located next to churches and schools.
Brown-Clarke said this vote made it clear that more lawmakers are realizing the “time has come” to create a recreational marijuana industry in Delaware.
“We are definitely closer, but we have to finish the job,” she said. “Third time will be the charm this session.
Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 256-2466 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MereNewman.
