Letter to the Editor: Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee needs changes, not sunsetting
Contact your lawmakers and tell them to vote no on House Bill 356. This bill will terminate the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee (MMOC) and allow the medical marijuana program to operate without proper checks and balances and without input from cannabis patients.
The MMOC has failed its mission — and cannabis patients — with years of inaction, failing to consider an abundance of public comment from experts and patients, and often failing to meet the necessary quorum to even conduct official business. Now, lawmakers are trying to sunset the Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee, despite patients’ numerous complaints about the program.
Rather than sunsetting the committee, we are calling on new appointments to the committee to replace members who have failed to show up on more than one occasion, thus preventing the required quorum. The bill will be heard in committee soon, and we need to organize and prepare patients to give public comment against HB 356.
The Delaware Cannabis Patients Coalition calls for a new board to be seated. We also call for the removal of Rep. Stephanie Bolden, D-Wilmington who, by abstaining, voted against patients’ interests on HB 305, which would have created the competition needed to help prevent the oligopoly control of medical dispensaries and their outrageous business practices.
The DCPC believes that the MMOC is necessary for improvements to the medical marijuana program. Its removal benefits the profit-driven dispensaries to the detriment of patients.
How can we sunset this committee, when the program is still not fully implemented and is still failing to meet patients’ needs? Contact your lawmakers and tell them to vote no on HB 356!
Lillyanne Ternahan
Executive director, Delaware Cannabis Patients Coalition
