Delaware: Too Many Applicants, Too Little Space
There’s more than enough interested parties in Delaware to run a cannabis business. But local jurisdictions do not look so enthusiastic. The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) reportedly received over 1,200 applications for marijuana business licensing in September. Stores are planned to open in 2025, however, options where to set up a shop or greenhouse are getting limited as towns and cities enforce outright bans on doing cannabis business.
Many things indicate to the huge interest in doing cannabis business in Delaware, one of the smallest markets in the United States, where the recreational use of marijuana was approved by legislators only last year. Except officials won’t have it. They would rather have too many rules and limitations on where you can open a dispensary. Not near the municipality. Not near the church. Not near residential buildings. In the end, some of the operators might wish to go in some of the neighboring legal states, like New Jersey.
Delaware legalized adult-use cannabis in 2023. It made it legal for individuals 21 years old and above to be able to possess up to one ounce of weed for personal use. Homegrowing is not legal with the current legislation.
Delaware authorities plan to give permission to 30 retailers throughout the state: 14 in New Castle County, 10 in Sussex, and six in Kent. The state may also permit 13 existing medical marijuana dispensaries to uplevel their license and sell adult-use cannabis products. With dual licensing, medical cannabis retailers in Delaware could begin recreational sales ahead of the full-fledged market launch scheduled for the spring of 2025.
Delaware Cannabis Regulator Received Over 1,200 License Applications
Interested candidates were able to apply for a cannabis license between August and September. The Delaware Office of the Marijuana Commissioner reportedly received 1,269 paid license applications, exceeding over $4 million in cost.
Regulators certainly got much more than they asked. Because of the “significant interest” in retail licenses, the OMC announced it will “conduct a separate lottery for all Retail licenses.” The first such licensing lottery is due to take place on Oct. 24. Another lottery is supposed to take place by December at the latest.
The office plans to issue a total of 125 licenses, including 30 retailers, 60 cultivators, 30 manufacturers and five testing sites.
While all this looks nice, and recreational dispensaries are expected to serve the first customers in spring 2025, the list of places where operators can set up a business is rapidly narrowing.
Delaware Towns and Cities Introduce Bans on Marijuana
Under certain provisions of the law, local jurisdictions in Delaware enjoy the right to prohibit cannabis activity. There are three counties in Delaware, and towns and cities in those counties are using their right for an outright ban. That includes restriction on all types of business, including retail, growing, manufacturing and testing facilities.
Retail bans have so far been enacted in southernmost Sussex, including inland towns like Seaford and Dagsboro, Millsboro and Bridgeville, as well as coastal towns such as Ocean View, Dewey, Lewes, Fenwick Island, Rehoboth, Bethany, South Bethany and Milton, WHYY reported.
A ban was also passed in Middletown, the fourth biggest municipality in Sussex. In Newmark, one of Delaware’s largest cities where the University of Delaware is also situated, the cannabis retail ban is active everywhere except the Main Street shopping area.
More bans are expected to be implemented in the coming period. The second largest city, Dover, could introduce restrictions, according to sources. In Wilmington, the state’s largest city, the planning commission is looking to enforce a 300-foot buffer zone from residential areas. The restriction would be enough to again limit cannabis dispensaries to downtown and only a few other areas.
Sussex County has also initiated rules that limit shops to commercial sites only. A cannabis business cannot operate within 3 miles of municipality buildings, churches, schools or substance abuse treatment centers.
“Our goal with this plan is to make this new category of business available to those who wish to participate from a business or customers standpoint while being respectful of areas of the city that need to be shielded from it,” said in a statement Michael Purzycki, Mayor of Wilmington.
The First State has had medical cannabis since 2015. Recreational retail should come as a natural extension to that market. But if Delaware officials really wish for a successful start, they might need to loosen up on where you can and where you can’t sell cannabis.
Also read on Soft Secrets:
- Mississippi May Expand List of MMJ Qualifying Conditions
S
Stephen Andrews
