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The Democratic governor of Delaware won\u2019t say whether he plans to sign or veto a pair of bills the legislature sent to his desk this week to legalize marijuana and establish a regulated adult-use market.<\/p>\n
Advocates are closely watching to see if Gov. John Carney (D) will again exercise his veto authority to quash cannabis legalization<\/a>, as he did last year.<\/p>\n Asked on Wednesday whether he could give a \u201chint\u201d about his current thinking about the reform measures that the Senate passed on Tuesday<\/a>, Carney said, \u201cNo, I\u2019d rather focus on\u201d his administration\u2019s efforts to improve roadway safety.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously I\u2019m concerned mostly about unintended consequences of legalization, including highway safety,\u201d the governor told NBC Philadelphia.<\/p>\n I did ask Delaware Governor if he was ready to give me a hint if he will sign or again veto recreational marijuana laws that just passed. Spoiler alert- he wasn\u2019t ready to tell me. #netde<\/a> @NBCPhiladelphia<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/muzWU7Y3yf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tim Furlong (@tfurlong) March 29, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A spokesperson for Carney made similar comments, telling Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that the governor \u201ccontinues to have strong concerns about the unintended consequences of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in our state, especially about the impacts on our young people and highway safety.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows others have honest disagreements on this issue,\u201d the communications director said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t have anything new to share today about how the governor will act on HB 1 and HB 2 if they reach his desk.\u201d<\/p>\n While the House didn\u2019t have the votes to override Carney last year, both the simple legalization bill and the sales regulation measure cleared both chambers this round with more than enough support to override any potential veto<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Ed Osienski (D), sponsor of the bills, took a similar, bifurcated approach for the reform last session and saw the legislature pass the basic legalization proposal while narrowly defeating the regulatory measure.<\/p>\n The lawmaker recently said that if the governor seeks to veto the legislation again this time, he\u2019s \u201coptimistic\u201d and feels \u201cpretty good\u201d that they have the votes for an override.<\/p>\n \u201cI think my colleagues are saying, \u2018OK, you know, you had one shot at vetoing this, you did and you were successful, but don\u2019t count on us supporting that veto again,\u2019\u201d he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the\u00a0HB 1<\/a>\u00a0legalization bill would accomplish:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n State statute would be revised to legalize the possession, use, sharing and purchasing of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n To avoid abuses of the \u201cgifting\u201d provision, the bill stipulates that \u201cadult sharing\u201d would not include giving away cannabis \u201ccontemporaneously with another reciprocal transaction between the same parties\u201d such as an exchange of a non-marijuana item.<\/p>\n Public consumption and growing cannabis would remain prohibited.<\/p>\n People under 21 who engage in such activity would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $100 for a first offense. Police could use discretion and issue a citation in lieu of that fine, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s an overview of the key provisions of the\u00a0HB 2<\/a>\u00a0regulatory bill:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The legislation would provide a basic framework to create a regulated system of cannabis commerce for adults in the state.<\/p>\n The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement (DATE) would be responsible for regulating the market through a new Office of Marijuana Control Commissioner.<\/p>\n For the first 16 months of implementation, regulators could approve up to 30 cannabis retail licenses.<\/p>\n Applicants who show that they\u2019d provide a living wage, health insurance coverage, sick and paid leave and focus on diversity in hiring would be prioritized in the licensing scoring process.<\/p>\n Seven percent of marijuana business fee revenue would go to a \u201cJustice Reinvestment Fund\u201d that supports restorative justice, workforce development, technical assistance for economically disadvantaged people and more.<\/p>\n That fund would also go toward \u201ccreating or developing technology to assist with the restoration of civil rights and expungement of criminal records.\u201d However, the legislation itself doesn\u2019t provide for automatic expungements.<\/p>\n In additional to conventional retail, cultivator, manufacturer and laboratory licenses, the bill would additional provide for social equity and microbusiness licenses (reserved for applicants with majority ownership by Delaware residents).<\/p>\n Localities would be able to prohibit marijuana businesses from operating in their area through ordinance.<\/p>\n Adult-use marijuana sales would be subject to a 15 percent sales tax. Medical cannabis products would not be taxed.<\/p>\n \u2014 Shortly after the House passed the latest versions of the legalization measures last week, the Senate approved a resolution that urges the state\u2019s congressional representatives to\u00a0support legislation to end federal cannabis prohibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately, in October, Carney\u00a0vetoed a more narrowly tailored bill<\/a>\u00a0that would have clarified that medical marijuana patients are not prohibited from buying, possessing or transferring firearms under state law<\/p>\n A strong majority of Delaware voters support legalizing marijuana\u2014including nearly three in four Democrats who back the reform that the state\u2019s Democratic governor vetoed last year,\u00a0according to a poll released that month<\/a>.<\/p>\n South Carolina Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill\u2019s Fate In Question, But Supporters Are Making A Last-Ditch Push<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post Delaware Governor Dodges Question About Vetoing Marijuana Legalization Bills<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Democratic governor of Delaware won\u2019t say whether he plans to sign or veto a pair of bills the legislature sent to his desk this week to legalize marijuana and establish a regulated adult-use market. Advocates are closely watching to see if Gov. John Carney (D) will again exercise hisContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":63171,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63172,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63170\/revisions\/63172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Delaware Governor Dodges Question About Vetoing Marijuana Legalization Bills<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"