Bill to legalize marijuana in Delaware fails in House

Scott Goss | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Recreational marijuana voted down in the House The House voted down a bill that would make Delaware the 10th state to fully legalize marijuana.

Delaware will not become the 10th state to fully legalize marijuana — at least not this year.

The House on Wednesday defeated a bill that would have created a taxable industry dedicated to the production and sale of legal cannabis.

The measure fell four votes shy of the 25 needed to move the bill to the state Senate. The final vote was 21-15 with five lawmakers — all Democrats — opting not to vote at all.

The defeat marked the end of a nearly two-year effort to join states such as Colorado and California in legalizing the drug for use by adults 21 and older.

"We're devastated that the House of Representatives would vote against this citizen-led effort ... and vote in favor of allowing the criminal market to control the most lucrative cash drop in Delaware," said Zoe Patchell, head of the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network and the leading voice of the legalization movement here.

For co-sponsors Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington, and Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington, the vote also signifies the end of a long crusade to reform Delaware's marijuana laws. Both women are retiring at the end of their current term.

Together, they sponsored legislation that in 2011 created the state's medical marijuana program and a 2015 decriminalization law that downgraded possession of an ounce or less from a criminal offense to a civil violation, like a parking ticket.

"Of course I wanted to be able to go out on a good note," Keeley said after the vote on full legalization. "I'm a little sad I couldn't get it done. I couldn't get it over the goal line."

Advocates for full legalization have faced steep opposition since the bill was introduced in early 2017.

Despite meeting with marijuana advocates, Gov. John Carney repeatedly said he was not in favor of House Bill 110, arguing that more time is needed to study the full impact of marijuana legalization elsewhere.

The Delaware Marijuana Control Act also was condemned by a coalition of influential organizations that represent police, hospitals, doctors and some of the state's largest employers.

Led by AAA Mid-Atlantic, those groups argue that legalizing cannabis will result in a surge of drugged-driving crashes, emergency room visits, drug addiction and children being exposed to marijuana.

"We believe the final vote reflects the necessary caution before any major public policy change," said Cathy Rossi, vice president of public and government affairs for the Delaware-based car club. "From a road safety perspective, we want Delaware drivers, passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians spared the increased risk of marijuana-impaired drivers that states like Colorado and Washington are now facing.”

In explaining their opposition, several Republican lawmakers cited various statistics — ranging from increased drugged driving to spikes in infant exposure — from states where marijuana has been legalized.

But Keeley said the concerns raised behind closed doors by her fellow Democrats — who ultimately decided the outcome — centered on the opposition of law enforcement groups such as the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council.

Rep. Trey Paradee, D-Cheswold, said those opposed to the legislation are on the wrong side of history, noting that 61 percent of state residents support legalization according to a 2016 poll conducted by the University of Delaware.

"This bill is going to pass," he said. "Maybe not tonight but it is inevitable."

Advocates had attempted to counter resistance to the bill by arguing legalization would largely replace what is now a criminal industry with a legal one that could yield more than $20 million a year in tax revenue.

Tax dollars raised by the legal industry would have been directed toward education, helping prisoners re-enter society, drug abuse rehabilitation and prevention programs and initiatives aimed at training police officers to recognize whether drivers are under the influence of marijuana and other drugs.

House Bill 110 also would have created a commission to regulate, license and tax the state's marijuana business, which could have included as many as 40 retail stores, along with growing operations and testing facilities. The state's three medical marijuana

dispensaries would have been given the first opportunity to open retail operations.

Introduced in March 2017, the legislation managed to get out of committee last year but failed to get a vote on the House floor.

That led Keeley and Henry to create a 25-member task force that spent seven months studying how the state might regulate a legal marijuana industry. The hope was that the final report from the panel — made up of legalization proponents, opponents and representatives from various state agencies — might help sway undecided or uncommitted legislators.

Instead, the task force ended in confusion and controversy with members refusing to endorse the final product.

That did not stop Keeley from using the task force's report to write an amendment that sought to address many of their concerns, while also reducing the total vote count needed for passage.

The prior threshold was set by the addition of new criminal penalties related to fines for underage consumption while the new version relies on existing laws to accomplish the same goal.

That change was not enough to secure the bill's passage, however. The amendment still required support from a three-fifths super-majority due to the new fees it created for licensing cannabis-related businesses.

"If it had been a simple majority, it would have passed," Patchell said. "This is absolutely inevitable and we're going to continue our efforts to replace the dangerous, criminal market for cannabis with a legal, taxed and well-regulated system."

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.