The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which recently issued a new fingerprint service code for state cannabis regulators, is likely to accelerate the implementation of Delaware’s marijuana legalization legislation.
The FBI previously refused the state’s requests to set up a background check fingerprint system for potential cannabis workers. This move threatened to slow down the launch of the legal marijuana market in the state. The state then scrambled for a solution to what they perceived as an insufficient amount of detail within the cannabis laws.
According to the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner of the state (OMC), the federal agency “partially approves” the new language of the program.
Paul Hyland, the Acting Marijuana Commisssioner said that “Fingerprint-based checks are an important part of maintaining public safety as well as the integrity” of the program. We are grateful for the FBI’s assistance and excited to see that some applicants have been approved.
Late last month, Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer, a Democratic lawmaker from Delaware signed a measure to fix the FBI problem. Meyer described this issue as “just an egregious case of federal bureaucracy impeding state-led innovative.”
Rep. Ed Osienski, the sponsor of this bill (D), said that he is “grateful to” the Governor and his colleagues from the House and Senate “for getting this legislation as soon as possible to the finishing line.”
“With HB 110 now law, I’m hopeful the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner will be able to secure the necessary approvals to establish the background check system needed to move Delaware’s adult-use cannabis industry forward,” he said.
While state officials had been planning to license the first recreational cannabis businesses in April, the enacted statute requires the background checks to be in place first.
OMC is the company responsible for the regulation of the market. It recently stated that they had worked closely with State Bureau of Identification (SBI) and Delaware Department of Justice in order to get the FBI service code required before the first denial.
Under Osienski’s bill, HB 110, the state’s current marijuana law was amended to identify categories of people who will need to complete fingerprint-based background checks within the cannabis industry. The state requested the fingerprint service code and made the adjustment to the marijuana statute.
In the OMC’s press release, it is noted that FBI considers “agent”, which was used in this program to be too broad. This will require another legal solution.
It said, “OMC will collaborate with the General Assembly on this technical correction.”
Federally, marijuana remains illegal. However, the FBI previously approved a background fingerprinting system to be used by Delaware’s medical cannabis programs.
Meyer nominated Joshua Sanderlin, an attorney with expertise in government regulation and with a background in cannabis law to be the next state top regulator.
Late last year, OMC held a series of licensing lotteries for cannabis business to start serving adult consumers.
There will be 125 total licenses issued. This includes 30 retailers, 60 growers, 30 manufacturers, and 5 testing laboratories. The regulators detailed last year what percentage of each category was reserved for microbusinesses, social equity license applicants and open general licenses.
Regulators have also been rolling out a series of proposed regulations to stand up the forthcoming adult-use cannabis industry.
Former Gov. John Carney (D) raised eyebrows in January after making a questionable claim that “nobody” wants cannabis shops in their neighborhoods, even if there’s consensus that criminalization doesn’t work.
The then-governor last year signed several additional marijuana bills into law, including measures that would allow existing medical cannabis businesses in the state to begin recreational sales on an expedited basis, transfer regulatory authority for the medical program and make technical changes to marijuana statutes.
The dual licensing legislation is meant to allow recreational sales to begin months earlier than planned, though critics say the legislation would give an unfair market advantage to larger, more dominant businesses already operating in multiple states.
In October, Carney also gave final approval to legislation to enact state-level protections for banks that provide services to licensed marijuana businesses.
Delaware’s medical marijuana program is also being significantly expanded under a law that officially took effect last July.
This policy shift removes restrictions on patient eligibility that are based upon a set of health conditions. In its place, doctors can recommend cannabis to treat any health condition.
Patients over 65 can also self-certify their medical cannabis use without a physician’s prescription.
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Side Pocket Images. Image courtesy Chris Wallis.