By Rachel Sawicki

DOVER — Recreational marijuana legislation made it out of the House Health and Human Development Committee Wednesday and will make its way to the House floor for a vote.

This isn’t the first time an adult-use recreational marijuana bill has made it through committee. Several advocacy groups and bill sponsor Rep. Ed. Osienski, D-Newark, expected it to pass the committee. However, it is uncertain whether there will be enough support to pass it in the full House and Senate.

The social equity portion of the bill, which directs 7% of the marijuana tax revenue to a justice reinvestment fund, is arguably the most supported provision in the legislation.  The Department of Justice would oversee the fund and use it to administer grants, contracts, services and initiatives that focus on criminal justice improvements, restorative justice, jail diversion, workforce development, industry specific technical assistance and monitoring services.

“For economically disadvantaged persons and disproportionately impacted areas, this fund can also address the underlying cause of crime, reduce drug related arrests and reduce the prison population in the state,” Rep. Osienski said. “It also will address creating and developing technology to assist with the restoration of civil rights and the expungement of criminal records.”

Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha, D-Wilmington, said the fund  supports provides hope, awareness and a new direction and sense of engagement within communities.

“This fund will be able to support education and other programs for drug awareness inside of these various communities that have been harmed,” he said. “It will provide opportunities to build partnerships and alliances to truly build safeguards for communities that have just been devastated by this very staple, illegal drug forever … I really think it makes sense for our state to be able to generate revenue and tax income off of the sale of legal marijuana and then to reinvest it into communities that have been harmed.”

Pushback of bill

Reps. Charles Postles, R-Milford, Bryan Shupe, R-Milford, and Richard Collins, R-Millsboro, voted “No” on the bill, largely on worries that youth will be encouraged to use marijuana.

“We’re talking about the government telling our young people this stuff is fine,” Rep. Collins said. “You cannot tell me that thousands of our kids, even though there are age limits in the bill, are going to say it’s like a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.”

“Why would we want to sorrow our kids and our grandkids and limit their potential, their lifelong earnings even, by exposing them to this harmful drug that would impair their brain development?” Rep. Postles said.

Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, said this logic would suggest outlawing tobacco and alcohol products as well.

“I am strongly suspecting that is not something that (Rep. Postles) supports,” Rep. Morrison said. “We know that the negative social and health impacts of alcohol use and abuse and tobacco usage are much worse than any negative social and health impacts related to cannabis usage. And this is personal to me since I am an alcoholic who has been sober for 17 years, and I’ve been tobacco free for over seven years. So given this and given that, we know that prohibition simply doesn’t work. The logic of Rep. Postles just doesn’t pan out.”

Public comment

The public comment period lasted approximately 90 minutes.

Laura Sharer, executive director of Delaware chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said legalizing cannabis is more than just allowing recreational use or the money that can be made. It’s about undoing a century of racist policy, she said, that disproportionately targets Black and Latino communities.

“It’s about rebuilding the communities that have suffered the most harm and it’s about ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities that this legal cannabis market will provide,” Ms. Sharer said. “With House Bill 305, we have a chance to implement cannabis policy focused on public health and equity. A century trying to arrest our way to a solution has failed the legalization of cannabis possession and the creation of a regulated market.”

Jim Nolan is a former lieutenant with the Wilmington Police Department who argued marijuana prohibition adds to violence to communities by creating illegal markets.

“I’ve been conditioned to think that marijuana has a high potential for abuse and no medical use,” he said. “I’m also worried that ending prohibition might send young people the wrong message, causing more use and abuse. However, my firsthand experience as a Wilmington police officer and my police research as a sociologist, have taught me that marijuana prohibition causes much more damage than the use of the drug or marijuana laws deep to track the stress of the police and the criminal justice system, breaking community relationships and increasing violence.”

Medical issues

Access to medical marjiuana isn’t easy for those with health issues, according to several public commenters, and cannabis use has already saved several lives. Delaware residents, including at least two miliary veterans, said cannabis helped them give up opioid use and provided long-term relief for chronic pain and illness.

Some medical card holders explained the process of obtaining a card can be a headache itself; finding a doctor to go through the process of exploring cannabis treatment and the costs associated with getting a card.

David Nathan, founder and former president of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, said cannabis should never have been made illegal for consenting adults and the committee’s decision is not choosing between big cannabis or a drug-free America, but is simply whether to regulate a non-lethal intoxicant that is already widely consumed throughout Delaware.

Ngiste Abebe, vice president of public policy at Columbia Care Dispensary, which has sites in Delaware, said recreational legalization could cause problems for the medical market.

“As currently written, this bill will disrupt the medical cannabis program that 14,000 patients in Delaware rely on,” Ms. Abebe said. “Without the inclusion of the medical operators, half of whom are certified minority- and veteran-owned business, patients will not see the cost savings that make this medicine, which is not covered by insurance, more accessible.”

Medical marijuana regulations require compassion centers and safety compliance facilities to pay a $40,000 certification fee for their license every two years, according to a Division of Public Health representative, and HB305 only requires marijuana retail stores, testing facilities, and product manufacturing facilities to pay a $10,000 fee every two years. DPH offiicials suggest that the difference in cost will result in a shift from medical marijuana production to recreational due to the lower fee structure and patients must have continued access to extensively tested marijuana products regardless of the availability of recreational marijuana.

Additionally, DPH said agriculture must be handled carefully. Delaware’s compassion centers currently grow their marijuana exclusively indoors because of the state’s rigorous testing requirements related to mold fungus and pesticides. HB 305 would allow recreational marijuana to be grown outdoors, which poses potential health and safety risks of contamination from insects, wildlife pesticides, cross pollination and other contaminants. Additionally, it’s a greater security risk for marijuana to be grown outdoors.

Rebecca Kidner, of American Property Casualty Insurance, asked to reinstate employers’ rights to enforce a drug-free workplace. The current provision deals with private property rights that would allow employers to prohibit possession or consumption on their property. It would not give them that control for off-property activities.

She also suggested an amendment to make it clear that marijuana and “marijuana accessories” in a vehicle must be in a container and not readily accessible to the occupants, to ensure safety on the road.