DOVER, Del. – Delaware marijuana advocates are concerned and speaking out after it was revealed there have been delays ahead of the launch of recreational sales.
The delays reportedly have to do with background checks that have not yet been completed applicants that were chosen for licenses in the state lottery, according to the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network, a non-profit advocacy organization that helped lead the fight to legalize marijuana in the First State.
Rob Coupe, who has now resigned as the Delaware Marijuana Commissioner, informed committee members at the Delaware Marijuana Control Act Oversight Committee meeting held in January that background checks had not been completed for the roughly 120 “selected applicants” chosen in the license lotteries, according to the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network.
During the committee meeting, Zoë Patchell, the Kent County advocate appointee to the Marijuana Control Act Oversight Committee and executive director of Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network, raised several concerns and requested clarification about the delays.
Now, marijuana advocates are worried that medical dispensaries could be the first to start selling, a move that Patchell tells us would be disastrous for small business and in direct contradiction of the bill that was passed to legalize it.
“We’re calling for urgent actions to address the missteps that are causing the delays,” Patchell said. “We want the intention of the legislation to be implemented where all new businesses get to compete alongside these larger corporate entities to implement a fair market.”
Questions regarding when background checks would be approved by the FBI and then completed for new businesses, when selected applicants would be granted operational licenses, and why the process for approving background checks had not been conducted earlier, all went unanswered at that meeting, according to Patchell.
“We are deeply concerned over the recently disclosed delays regarding the licensing process for new cannabis businesses,” Patchell said. “While some growing pains are anticipated, everyone expected brand new businesses to be licensed and seeds to be planted in the fall for a crop that would be harvested in time for sales to begin in the spring.”
WMDT News reached out to the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner for a response and is awaiting a response.
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