Delaware’s marijuana regulators announced this week the state was moving forward with a launch of a new recreational cannabis market, including background checks on companies who won licenses following a December second lottery.
The winners had until February 10th to provide their income tax records, releases of information from financial institutions signed by them, disclosures about long-term debt, business histories, and fingerprinting. A press release by the Office for the Marijuana Commission states that background checks will be mandatory for all individuals who hold a 10% stake in the licenses.
Background checks will be performed by both the Marijuana Enforcement Unit and Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement. They are awaiting the final authorization from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the fingerprinting.
OMC says that after background checks, all licensees are granted conditional permits and must have their businesses up and running in 18 months.
It’s unclear when exactly the market will launch. The OMC has said the conversion of the thirteen existing medical marijuana dispensaries to be able to sell adult-use products is still ongoing. Their licenses are “not yet activated.”
The state also plans to make grants available for social equity license holders beginning in the month of March.
These 125 licensees came from 1,271 applicants. 529 of them applied for one of the fifteen “open retail” permits, which was open to anyone. The lottery for this was conducted in December. In October, the lottery also selected 15 more social equity retailers along with the majority of license holders.
The OMC reported that 44 of the 125 winners were women. This included 35 Black women (including Hispanics), 19 Asian women (6 Hispanics), and 7 women who identified themselves as being “other.”