Sussex County Council voted 5-0 recently to approve the continued exemption of fire-suppression systems for certain new residential construction, contrary to the International Residential Code, the National Fire Protection Association’s Life Safety Code and NFPA’s Building Code, which all require installation of fire sprinklers in new homes. Should newly built homes be required to include fire-suppression sprinklers or not? Why?
- Perhaps the sprinklers should be mandatory in new home construction where homes are connected to one another and not required in single-family detached homes. However, the home insurance industry could offer incentives to people who are building single-family detached homes with monetary savings on installing sprinkler systems. — Ruth Ashby
Proposal for state-run pot industry fails again in House
Legislation to establish a state-run marijuana industry in Delaware has again failed to clear the state House of Representatives. The Democrat-controlled chamber voted 23-15 to approve the bill, which fell two votes short of the required supermajority. The proposal requires a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate because it creates a new tax, consisting of a 15% levy on retail marijuana sales.
- You can keep it. I’ll just drive across the river. Delaware is blind. — Charlie Harper
- “State-run” pot industry says it all. Glad it failed. — Bob Beckman
- As of now you have nowhere to purchase it legally for recreational use in Delaware. — Jeff Grzeszczak
- New Jersey. — Charlie Harper
- Jersey wants our tax money and revenue. — Rick Reed
- Truly, I think they didn’t feel that the full logistics were in the bill, and that’s why it didn’t pass. Also, Delaware moves slow on things they are not sure of. — Jeff Grzeszczak
Representative promises to continue fight for marijuana legalization
After months of deliberation between legislators, a bill that would implement taxes and regulations on the sale of marijuana recently failed in the House of Representatives by one vote. Its sponsor, however, isn’t giving up. House Bill 372 was one of two bills that Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark, introduced after the March 10 defeat of his previous marijuana legislation, HB 305, which would have legalized and regulated marijuana under the Delaware Marijuana Control Act.
- The prohibition of cannabis seems to have not decreased the supply nor the demand for cannabis. Not one single iota, and it never will. Just a huge and complete waste of our tax dollars to continue criminalizing citizens for choosing a natural plant. If prohibitionists are going to take it upon themselves to worry about “saving us all” from ourselves, then they need to start with the drug that causes more death and destruction than every other drug in the world combined, which is alcohol! It’s time for us, the majority of the people, to take back control of our national cannabis policy by voting out of office any and all politicians who publicly and vocally admit to having an anti-cannabis, prohibitionist agenda! Time to vote ’em all out of office. Period. Plain and simple. — Brian Kelly
