John SchroyerThe newest U.S. state recreational marijuana market appears to be on hold indefinitely.
Delaware legislators, after legalizing adult-use cannabis in 2023, are being forced to revisit the recreational marijuana law they approved following a denial by the FBI for help with background checks on business license holders due to a technicality.
The FBI said that Delaware state law “must contain language explicitly identifying the categories of persons required to obtain a background check” in order to avoid “overbreadth” in the background check process, according to a press release.
“The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner will work expeditiously with the General Assembly to develop proposed legislation containing criteria that is satisfactory to the FBI,” the state said in the release.
That, however, leaves stakeholders unclear on how long the new market launch may now be delayed, and one marijuana advocate told WBOC that the circumstances could “jeopardize the entire success of the legislation and the industry.”
“This entire process since day one has been one step forward, several steps back and has been met with nothing but delays and obstruction,” Zoe Patchell of the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network told WBOC.
And so far, the state Office of Marijuana has not even found a lawmaker willing to run an emergency bill, according to Delaware Online.
Meanwhile, the cannabis regulatory agency has been without a full-time permanent commissioner since Rob Coupe stepped down from the role in January. Deputy Commissioner Paul Hyland has been running the agency since then, Delaware Online reported, and Gov. Matt Meyer has yet to nominate a replacement. Whoever is nominated must be confirmed by the state Senate.
Delaware regulators awarded recreational 125 business permits over two lotteries last year, the first in October and the second in December. The market was intended to open this spring, but that plan is on hold until lawmakers can fix the statute to either satisfy the FBI and get background checks completed, or to eliminated the requirement for the checks entirely.
