More than two years in the making, retail recreational cannabis sales officially began across the First State this morning.
Delaware has had legal medical marijuana sales for the past decade, requiring patrons to have a qualifying health condition and a state-issued card to make purchases.
The initial phase of retail sales that started today involves medical marijuana distributors (compassion centers) that paid a $100,000 state conversion licensing fee to allow them to sell to the general public.
Some have criticized the action, arguing that it gives these businesses a big advantage over other cannabis retail licensees that are still months away from opening their establishments.
In a statement released earlier today, the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner maintained that the conversion licenses “provided a critical jumpstart to the market…while also generating $4 million in funding for start-up grants supporting social equity licensees.”
Under the law legalizing recreational marijuana, social equity licenses were created to give applicants with minor drug convictions, or residents living in areas disproportionately impacted by drug crimes, preferential treatment in becoming cannabis retailers, cultivators, or manufacturers.
Most House and Senate Republicans opposed the social equity carve-out, arguing that the skill set required to run an illicit drug operation differed significantly from operating a legitimate business within a regulatory framework. They also questioned the equity and wisdom of using a home address or a criminal record as qualifications.
Republican legislators also expressed concerns that legalization would increase impaired driving accidents, as it has in other states, and that there is no current marijuana equivalent to a Breathalyzer.
Still considered illegal by the federal government, 24 states have thus far legalized cannabis for casual, non-medical consumption.
For answers to frequently asked questions about Delaware’s emerging recreational marijuana market, click here.
