Letter to the Editor: New marijuana law is a perfect business plan for illicit weed

Delaware lawmakers recently legalized recreational marijuana because a majority of their constituents wanted it, regardless of the details in the bill. Recreational sales need to be implemented and regulated immediately. Currently, the law makes the possession of weed (up to 1 ounce) completely legal, with no legal access to products. This is the perfect blueprint for an illicit weed business. You don’t even need to grow it.

There are plenty of states that overproduce marijuana, and gaining access is as easy as sending a text message to someone. Crossing state lines with product is also illegal, but it happens every day.

Delaware was doing everything right with medical marijuana; it was careful not to overproduce and to cultivate with no pesticides. Plus, there were rigorous testing measures and collecting fees. The Delaware recreational law will open the doors for nonregulated, untested and nontaxed weed.

New York City recently experienced what Delaware is setting up. New York state made weed legal and gave the permitted dispensaries two years to get set up. In that time, the illicit market sold an estimated $2 billion worth of nonregulated, nontaxed weed. Now that legal New York City dispensaries are in place, they are struggling because they can’t compete with the illicit market. New Jersey, on the other hand, merged medical with recreational sales immediately and prevented the illicit market from getting established and taking over.

Delaware is a small state, and I’ve experienced the “Delaware Way” many times with commonsense, street-smart policies. I support recreational use, but this law is setting us up for big problems. It’s embarrassing.

Bill Rohrer

Harrington

Editor’s note: Bill Rohrer is an agronomist (plant/soil scientist) and co-founder of The Farm, a Delaware medical marijuana business.