The Delaware House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales, even though it got a majority of votes in support. The move comes one week after lawmakers sent the governor separate legislation to simply legalize cannabis possession. The broader measure providing for a commercial marijuana market got 23 votes in support and 15 against but fell short of the three-fifths supermajority needed for passage. Rep. Ed Osienski (D) is sponsoring both the simple legalization bill, HB 371, and the complementary measure to establish sales regulations, HB 372. He made the calculated decision to break them up after his earlier proposal that included both components was rejected in the House because it also failed to get a required three-fifths majority. Because HB 371 on its own does not deal with raising revenue, it only needed a simple majority to pass. Osinski’s thinking has been that first moving non-commercial legalization through the legislature would put pressure on colleagues to approve the regulations bill with the higher vote threshold, rather than leave the market open—but that plan fell just short of success on Thursday.
Tom Angell, Marijuana Moment, 05/19/2022 18:45:00