In Wilmington, where the mayor opposed but couldn’t stop the legalization of marijuana in 2023 when he was Delaware’s governor, city lawmakers have finally decided where recreational weed stores and other cannabis businesses can be located.
So has Dover, where the mayor recently tried to block cannabis establishments. Newark, home to the University of Delaware, also has carved out possible locations for weed businesses.
While Delaware’s three largest cities are allowing, if not exactly encouraging, the new marijuana industry, not everybody is actually on board two years and two months after the General Assembly legalized weed and created the framework for a regulated market.
Many municipalities, including Middletown in New Castle County, the state’s fourth-largest town, and most beach towns in Sussex County have banned weed businesses. The restrictions are so severe in unincorporated areas of Sussex that one house in the General Assembly has passed a bill that would loosen the reins.
The state’s fledgling marijuana office also has secured a legislative fix to delays in FBI background checks for licensees. Now, officials are in the process of evaluating and then issuing 125 licenses to create an adult-use market.
Initially, the timetable envisioned by advocates and state officials had stores opening by Christmas of 2024. Then, it was pushed back to this spring.
The continued delays and local restrictions continue to infuriate Zoë Patchell, who heads the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network. She said the market should have been operating long ago.
“An overwhelming majority of Delawareans supported this, and local government that fundamentally opposed legalization is just obstructing the process and thwarting the will of the people,” said Patchell, a member of the Delaware Marijuana Act Oversight Committee.
She said the state marijuana office has been plodding at best in implementing the law.
“The agency is only halfway through even processing the new businesses, which were all supposed to be licensed in the fall,” Patchell said. “So implementation has been completely botched.”
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.