Due to a dispute between the FBI and Delaware over an approval of a fingerprint background-check application, it is possible that Delaware’s planned adult-use marijuana launch this year will be postponed.
While state regulators have been planning to license the first recreational cannabis businesses in April—about two years after the legislature approved a pair of legalization bills—there appears to be a hitch in the process.
The FBI hasn’t yet approved the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner in the State of California, the agency responsible for the regulation of the cannabis market. This office is required by state law to set up a system of fingerprinting for background checks of people interested in the industry.
Federally, marijuana remains illegal. However, FBI previously provided a fingerprinting background check system for Delaware’s medical cannabis program. Therefore, this doesn’t seem to be an indication of the general state-federal policy conflict.
Spotlight Delaware reports that Spotlight Delaware said the Federal Agency rejected regulators initial application because they did not meet “the requirements of federal law.” The FBI had initially been cited by state officials as the reason for delaying application. But later they said it was for unknown reasons. Regulators have since submitted a revised application.
It is vital to remember that an earlier bill [for medical cannabis] The same [fingerprint background check] Keila Montelvo, OMC’s spokesperson, stated that the FBI had approved criteria and they were re-evaluating their decision.
She said that the state had sent “a reconsideration request” and spoken to the FBI about the issue. She said, “We are committed to continuing to work closely with the FBI in order to comply with federal law as well as to expedite this process.”
The woman said: “We will not proceed until this approval is received.”
The FBI confirmed to the State that they had received a revised application, but said that their review was “not completed.”
Once finalized, the Delaware State Bureau of Investigation will receive a response from the agency.
Late last year, OMC held a series of licensing lotteries for cannabis business to start serving adult consumers.
Finaly, 125 licenses are expected to be awarded, with 30 retail outlets, 60 cultivators and 30 manufacturers as well as five labs for testing. In the past, regulators have also specified how much of each license category will be reserved for applicants who are socially responsible, small businesses, and those with general open licensing.
The regulators have been releasing a number of regulations that will help to establish the adult-use marijuana industry.
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Former Gov. John Carney, a Democrat from Massachusetts raised eyebrows when he claimed in January that “nobody wants” cannabis shops to be located in their neighborhood even though it’s widely accepted that criminalization does not work.
In the past year, the former governor signed several more marijuana bills. These included measures that allowed existing medical marijuana businesses in the State to quickly begin selling recreational cannabis, transferred regulatory authority to the medical program, as well as made technical changes to the laws on marijuana.
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. Doctors will now be able recommend cannabis for whatever condition they deem fit.
Patients over 65 can also self-certify their medical cannabis use without a physician’s prescription.
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