Delaware’s House lawmakers pass the latest iteration of a bill legalizing the possession of small quantities of marijuana.
This year’s version of the bill contains only minor adjustments from the one passed by the General Assembly and vetoed by Gov. John Carney last year — namely a shift away from treating one ounce of marijuana as the default for a "personal use quantity" to take THC concentrations into account.
It is the first part of a two-step approach to legalizing marijuana; a second bill establishing a regulatory structure for cultivation, sale and possession requires a three-fifths majority in both chambers to pass because it impacts state revenues. The latter bill will also deal with the permissible concentrations of THC in recreational marijuana and establish licensure opportunities for small entrepreneurs interested in entering the marijuana market.
Former Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana in 2015, offering police officers the option to issue civil citations for possession as an alternative. In the following three years, more than 12,000 people received civil citations for possessing marijuana.
The arguments for and against full legalization remain essentially unchanged. Supporters like bill sponsor Ed Osienski argue a regulated market will improve safety by replacing the illicit market, and that treating possession as a civil offense still leaves a mark on Delawareans’ permanent records that can have long-term ramifications.
“Although this civil offense is not as harmful as an arrest, these civil citations can’t be expunged and still appear in public records searches," he said. "This gap has caused a number of Delawareans to miss life-changing job opportunities because citations appeared on background checks.”
Osienski added that since 2015, arrests for marijuana possession made up a fifth of all drug arrests in Delaware.
Critics like former Medical Society of Delaware President Richard Henderson and Representative Ruth Briggs King remain opposed on the grounds that additional research on marijuana’s addictive properties and impact on brain development is needed before legalization should be considered.
But Henderson noted that the Medical Society of Delaware would support scaling back federal restrictions on marijuana to enable research on the drug's health impacts to move forward.
“The Medical Society does support having marijuana removed from [the federal list of 'schedule one' narcotics] to allow the necessary studies to be done to answer the questions and concerns that remain, particularly around addiction," Henderson told lawmakers.
Other skeptics, including Representatives Charles Postles, raised additional concerns, including about how to measure the level of impairment of drivers who use marijuana.
The bill passed with 28 votes in favor and 13 votes in opposition — two more “yes” votes than in 2022, with Democrats Bill Bush and Stephanie Bolden joining the majority after previously voting against the bill and abstaining, respectively. Three Republicans, including House Minority Leader Michael Ramone, voted in favor of the bill.
House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf was the only Democrat against the bill; Carney says he also remains opposed to legalization.
The bill now heads to the Senate. Its companion — the bill establishing a regulatory structure for legal marijuana — passed in committee and now awaits a vote in the House.
