Delaware to Become 22nd State to Legalize Marijuana

Delaware Governor John Carney announced that he will allow HB 1 and HB 2, bills to legalize and regulate cannabis for adults, to became law without his signature. Therefore, the First State will officially become the 22nd state to legalize cannabis.

Since the governor had until Saturday, April 22 to act on HB 1, the bill will officially become law as the day ends. The governor has until Wednesday, April 26th to act on HB 2, so that bill would become law thereafter.

“In the coming days, I will allow House Bill 1 and House Bill 2 to be enacted into Delaware law without my signature,” said Carney. “These two pieces of legislation remove all state-level civil and criminal penalties from simple marijuana possession and create a highly regulated industry to conduct recreational marijuana sales in Delaware. As I’ve consistently said, I believe the legalization of recreational marijuana is not a step forward. I support both medical marijuana and Delaware’s decriminalization law because no one should go to jail for possessing a personal use quantity of marijuana. And today, they do not.”

Carney concluded, “As we implement House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, we will do everything in our power to protect children from accessing marijuana and marijuana-related products; prevent Delawareans and Delaware visitors from driving under the influence of marijuana; and closely evaluate the placement of marijuana dispensaries and other businesses, to ensure they do not become a blight on already disadvantaged communities. My goal will be to ensure that Delaware has a robust regulatory system that protects the interests of the most vulnerable Delawareans, to avoid the many challenges we’ve seen in other states, and to get back to focusing on issues that are most important for Delaware families.”