A pair of complementary bills to legalize marijuana and set up regulations for cannabis commerce in Delaware were approved in separate House committees on Wednesday. Rep. Ed Osienski (D), the sponsor of both measures, previously tried to pass a comprehensive bill that would have accomplished both goals at once, but it failed to receive the required three-fifths supermajority vote on the floor last month. Rather than throw in the towel, the lawmaker devised a two-track approach to reform by introducing one basic legalization bill that would allow adults 21 and older to possess and share up to an ounce of cannabis and another that lays out a specific regulatory framework for an adult-use market. The former bill would only require a simple majority to pass, and so if that measure is enacted, the thinking is that it would put “extra pressure” on lawmakers to advance the complementary legislation with a supermajority, rather than have legalization without regulations in place, Osienski said earlier this month. So far, things are going according to plan. The simple legalization bill, HB 371, passed the House Health & Human Development Committee.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 04/13/2022 15:30:00