Last year’s roller-coaster ride that ultimately saw Delaware once again fail to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana led some advocates to predict the quest was dead until at least 2025.
That’s when Gov. John Carney, the staunchest foe and biggest impediment, leaves office.
But with more progressives winning election to the state House and Senate in November, both chambers might finally have veto-proof majorities to override the continued objections of Carney.
“The governor’s position hasn’t changed,’’ spokeswoman Emily Hershman said this week. Asked whether Carney, a second-term Democrat who by law can’t seek a third term, might again use his veto pen to stymie the legalization effort, Hershman demurred. “We don’t speculate on that question,’’ she said.
Despite the governor’s intransigence, prime sponsor Rep. Ed Osienski, a Newark-area Democrat, has reintroduced the two-pronged legislation. One of the bills would simply legalize weed for anyone 21 and over. The other would create a market with a 15% tax on sales, up to 30 retailers, and a regulatory structure.
The measures would not change state laws for driving under the influence. Nor would it allow people to grow marijuana, consume it in public, or prohibit employers from having zero-tolerance policies.
“We have some new members, we have some new energy,’’ Osienski said. “And I think a lot of them realized that I’m just not going to let this go. We’ve been through the veto and we’ve been through the veto override. And, you know, I just think I picked up more support for getting this done.”
Senate lead sponsor Trey Paradee says it’s well past time.
“From both an economic and a criminal justice perspective, legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana is the right thing to do.,” the Dover Democrat said, adding that he’ll keep leading the charge in his chamber “for as long as it takes” for the bills to pass.
Both measures advanced this week to the full House after clearing committee hearings. No vote before the full House could take place until March at the earliest, however. That’s when the Legislature reconvenes after a respite for budget hearings. Should the bills pass the House, the same process would then play out in the Senate.
The bills are primarily favored by Democrats, who hold advantages of 26-15 in the House, and 15-6 in the Senate.
Most Republicans are against legalization, however. Foes contend it will increase usage among teenagers and younger adults, and lead to more accidents on the road in a state where fatal crashes reached a 35-year high last year.
‘A matter of time before legalization is implemented’
In 2022, the legalization measure passed in early May with a 26-14 vote, with three Republicans voting yes. The bill only needed a simple majority of 22 votes.
But while waiting to see if Carney would exercise his veto power, the regulatory bill that needed a three-fifth majority (25 votes) because it included a tax suffered a dramatic failure. That occurred primarily because co-sponsor Rep. Larry Mitchell, who was ill but had joined the meeting virtually, did not vote, leaving it with 24 votes.
Then Carney vetoed the legalization piece. An override required a three-fifths vote, but failed after a handful of members from both parties changed their vote to no.
That left Zoe Patchell of the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network crestfallen.
Patchell, fighting back tears after the crushing defeat, said she then resigned herself to the notion that for at least three more years, people who are found with less than 28 grams can still get a $100 civil fine. Even though lawmakers removed criminal penalties for simple possession in 2016, Patchell stressed that the discovery of marijuana remains a pretext for searches of a person, vehicle, or home.