Delaware Senate committee approved a House passed bill to fix a flaw in the state’s law legalizing marijuana that caused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to refuse its request to set up a background check fingerprint system for cannabis industry workers.
The Senate Executive Committee, about a week following the passage of the bill by the House as a whole, advanced it on Wednesday.
Prior to that, the House voted on the day Gov. Matt Meyer (D), criticized FBI’s decision regarding background checks, which could delay Delaware adult use market launch.
At the committee meeting on Wednesday, Sen. Trey Paradee, (D), said, “I hope that with this bill’s passage, we will be able get this program implemented in a short time.”
Chair of the committee, Senator Dave Sokola (D), stated that this legislation was “pretty well a technical corrective to our existing law.”
In his State of the State speech last week, the Governor said that the FBI’s assertion that Delaware’s recreational marijuana laws are insufficient was just one more egregious case of federal bureaucracy squashing state-led innovation.
While state regulators had been planning to license the first recreational cannabis businesses in April, the enacted statute requires the background checks to be in place first.
Office of the Marijuana Commissioner, which regulates the marijuana market, recently said that they had been working with the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) and the Delaware Department of Justice in order to get the FBI service code required before getting a rejection late last month.
Under Osienski’s bill, HB 110, the state’s current marijuana law would be amended to identify categories of people who’d need to complete fingerprint-based background checks within the cannabis industry. This is to bring the law into compliance. Then, another request for service codes would be sent to FBI.
The federal government has not legalized marijuana, but the FBI granted Delaware’s Medical Cannabis Program a system of fingerprinting.
Late last year, OMC held a series of licensing lotteries for cannabis business to start serving adult consumers.
A total of 120 licenses, which include 30 retailers, 30 cultivators, 30 producers, and 5 testing laboratories, will be granted. 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.
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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.
Policy change eliminates the limitations on eligibility for patients based on specific health conditions. Doctors will now be able recommend cannabis for whatever condition they deem fit.
New law allows those over 65 years old to self-certify medical marijuana access, without needing a prescription from a doctor.
New Hampshire Senate Committee rejects marijuana legalization bill that passed the House
Brian Shamblen provided the photo.
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