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Delaware lawmakers have approved a bill to decriminalize public consumption of marijuana.<\/p>\n
Under current law, Delaware is the only cannabis legalization state in the U.S. that imposes the threat of jail time for the public consumption, but the House Health & Human Development Committee voted 9-5 on Wednesday to advance legislation to change that.<\/p>\n
While certain legal marijuana states like Colorado and Ohio still impose criminal penalties for public cannabis use, Delaware stands out as especially punitive, with a maximum penalty that carries the risk of jail time in addition to a fine.<\/p>\n
Under\u00a0HB 252, sponsored by Rep. Eric Morrison (D), the penalty would be reduced to a civil infraction, punishable by a $50 fine for a first offense and $100 fine for a second or subsequent offense.<\/p>\n
Morrison told colleagues at Wednesday\u2019s hearing that \u201cit makes sense that if we\u2019ve seen fit to decriminalize cannabis, that we decriminalize public consumption of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation puts us in line with what the large majority of other states with decriminalized or legalized cannabis have done when it comes to public consumption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis change does not say it\u2019s okay to consume cannabis in public. It simply updates the current penalty for public consumption to be commensurate with the offense,\u201d Morrison said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are bad things associated with a criminal record. Those things can include difficulty in finding work and difficulty in finding housing. There are also bad things, of course, associated with prison time. You\u2019re taking away family members from their families. You\u2019re taking them away from their jobs, possibly taking away income they need to meet the monthly bills, or maybe even causing them to lose their job.\u201d<\/p>\n The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said in an action alert on Tuesday that the state\u2019s current penalty is \u201cout of step with Delaware\u2019s treatment of secondhand tobacco smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGetting caught smoking tobacco in public results in a civil fine, while consuming cannabis in public\u2014even outdoors\u2014can land you in jail. Yet secondhand tobacco smoke is far more dangerous,\u201d MPP said<\/a>. \u201cA core goal of legalization is to stop ruining lives over cannabis! It\u2019s time to finish that job.\u201d<\/p>\n Delaware\u2019s marijuana market is relatively young, and advocates see ample opportunities to build upon the reform in the 2026 session\u2014including by passing the bill<\/a> to decriminalize public use.<\/p>\n Additionally, state lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals<\/a> and other healthcare facilities.<\/p>\n Delaware officials in September separately touted the \u201cstrong rise\u201d in marijuana sales since the recreational market launched<\/a>, with $7.4 million in purchases reported in the first month since retailers started serving adult consumers.<\/p>\n Last year, Gov. Matt Meyer (D) also discussed a\u00a0conversation he had with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) about regulating the marijuana industry<\/a>\u2014drawing a contrast between their respective responsibilities given the fact that Colorado is much larger with more local jurisdictions to interact with compared to Delaware, which has just three counties.<\/p>\n The launch of Delaware\u2019s legal market came about two years after marijuana legalization was enacted into law<\/a>\u00a0under former Gov. John Carney (D).<\/p>\n Ahead of the sales roll-out, the governor in July toured one of the state\u2019s cannabis cultivation facilities, praising the quality of marijuana that\u2019s being produced,\u00a0which he said will be the \u201cFrench wine of weed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The launch of the legal market came amid some controversy, however, with critics alleging that allowing medical operators to start adult-use sales ahead of other license applicants is unfair<\/a>. Dozens of other would-be retailers that have either already received licenses or are still awaiting issuance will need to wait for further regulatory approvals until they can open their doors\u2014a situation that\u2019s frustrated some advocates.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, two lawmakers who led the push to legalize marijuana are separately seeking input from consumers and businesses about the market launch. Sen. Trey Paradee (D), the sponsor of the zoning bill SB 75, and House Majority Whip Rep. Ed Osienski (D)\u2014the primary sponsor of the state\u2019s 2023 legalization bills\u2014put out a new online form last year for residents to share thoughts and feedback about the cannabis program anonymously<\/a>.<\/p>\n The idea is to identify any hiccups that lawmakers might need to address when they returned for this year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n OCM initially projected that recreational sales would start by March of last year, but complications related to securing an FBI fingerprint background check service code delayed the implementation. Lawmakers passed a bill last April to resolve the issue, and the FBI subsequently issued the code that the stat\u2019s marijuana law requires<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 In 2024, OMC held a series of licensing lotteries for cannabis business<\/a>\u00a0to start serving adult consumers.<\/p>\n A total of 125 licenses will ultimately be issued, including 30 retailers, 60 cultivators, 30 manufacturers and five testing labs. In 2024, regulators also detailed what portion of each category is reserved for social equity applicants, microbusinesses and general open licenses.<\/p>\n Regulators have also been\u00a0rolling out a series of proposed regulations to stand up the forthcoming adult-use cannabis industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Carney raised eyebrows last January after making a questionable claim that \u201cnobody\u201d wants cannabis shops in their neighborhoods<\/a>, even if there\u2019s consensus that criminalization doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Delaware Lawmakers Approve Bill To Decriminalize Public Marijuana Use And Remove Threat Of Jail Time<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Delaware lawmakers have approved a bill to decriminalize public consumption of marijuana. Under current law, Delaware is the only cannabis legalization state in the U.S. that imposes the threat of jail time for the public consumption, but the House Health & Human Development Committee voted 9-5 on Wednesday to advanceContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":85258,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85257"}],"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=85257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85259,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85257\/revisions\/85259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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