The Delaware Senate approves legislation legalizing cannabis

The first measure, House Bill 1, which would legalize adult-use cannabis, passed the Senate by a 16-4 vote, while House Bill 2, a bill creating a framework for the regulated sale of recreational marijuana, passed by a 15-vote -5. If passed into law, the bills will make Delaware the 22nd state in the Union to legalize adult-use cannabis.

The bills now go to the desk of Delaware Governor John Carney, who last year vetoed legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis, making him the only Democratic governor in the country to take such a step. The state House of Representatives then did not override the veto, leaving the legislature to try again during the current legislature. This year, however, both houses of the Delaware legislature passed the bills with a veto-proof majority, virtually guaranteeing final passage of the bills with or without Carney’s signature.

Cannabis policy reform is progressing

Neighboring states of New Jersey and Maryland have also passed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis, making Delaware one of the few remnants in the Northeast to end marijuana prohibition. After the Senate voted to legalize the bills on Tuesday, Brian Vicente, founding partner at cannabis and psychedelics law firm Vicente LLP, hailed the new advances for the cannabis policy reform movement in the United States.

“The upcoming passage of legalization in Delaware is a historic and important step in establishing the Atlantic Seaboard as the foundation for legal adult cannabis regulation,” Vicente wrote in an email to High Times. “For many years, legalization was considered a West Coast phenomenon, but now the East Coast is catching up. While we are a long way from making cannabis legal from Florida to Maine, Delaware continues to cement the East Coast as a turning back on marijuana prohibition.”

However, none of the bills passed on Tuesday include provisions to restore justice to overturn previous convictions for cannabis-related offenses like those included in plans to legalize marijuana in many states in recent years. Natalie Papillion, chief operating officer of the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to the release of all cannabis prisoners, pointed out the lack of eradication measures in Delaware’s marijuana legalization plan.

“Legalization alone cannot heal the wounds of prohibition. True justice requires legislation that allows those affected to have their recordings released and resentencing,” she wrote in a statement to the High Times. “It is disheartening that Delaware ignored the opportunity to begin repairing these damages by failing to include retrospective relief measures in this law.”

Legalization has broad public support in Delaware

Polls in Delaware show nearly three-quarters of adults in the state support legalizing marijuana, while just 18% said cannabis should remain illegal. Nearly nine in 10 Democratic respondents said they support legalizing cannabis, while 73% of independent voters also said they support ending marijuana prohibition in the state. Less than half (47%) of Republicans said cannabis should remain against the law, while 42% of GOP respondents support legalization.

“With this latest vote, the fight to legalize cannabis in Delaware is nearing the finish line. Cannabis policy reform has had broad support among Delawareans for years. Meanwhile, neighboring states have already taken the step towards legalizing cannabis,” said Olivia Naugle, senior policy analyst at the Marijuana Policy Project, in a statement from the cannabis reform group. “It is encouraging to see lawmakers pushing these bills forward with veto-proof majorities. We hope Governor Carney heeds the will of the people and allows Delaware to become the 22nd state to legalize cannabis. Any further delay in legalizing cannabis would be detrimental to the state.”

Attorney Vicente said that legalizing cannabis in Delaware could also add further support to federal cannabis legalization efforts, noting that state legislatures are increasingly pro-reform.

“Importantly, once this bill is passed, Delaware will send two US Senators and one member of the House of Representatives to Washington, DC with a clear mandate to pass federal reform,” he said. “Delaware is an example of a relatively recent trend in cannabis reform where the adult use law is going through the legislature rather than a popular vote.”

The legislation now goes to the governor’s desk for consideration. Ahead of Tuesday’s Senate vote, Carney spokeswoman Emily Hershman said in a statement that the governor “remains deeply concerned about the unintended consequences of the legalization of recreational marijuana in our state, particularly its impact on our young people.” and road safety. ”

“He knows that others have honest disagreements on the subject,” she added. “But we have nothing new to share today about how the governor will respond to HB 1 and HB 2 when they reach his desk.”