The fight to legalize marijuana in Delaware this year isn’t over yet, with the sponsor of a reform bill that was defeated in the House last month introducing two new, complementary measures to enact the policy change. And importantly, this new legislative push seems to have at least tentative support from the House speaker, who otherwise opposes legalization. Rep. Ed Osienski’s (D) first attempt to pass a measure to tax and regulate cannabis for adult use this session was a flop, failing on the floor even though it received a majority of votes. It needed a three-fifths supermajority because the bill included economic components, and it came up two votes short of that. Now the lawmaker is back at it again with a different, two-track approach. He filed a new pair of bills late last month: one would simply legalize possession and sharing of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older, and the other would create specific regulations for cannabis commerce that largely resemble the prior, House-defeated bill. Osienski’s thinking behind the bifurcated approach is strategic.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 04/06/2022 10:43:00