Marijuana legalization in Delaware: It's time to pass HB 110

Tom Donovan | The News Journal

Tom Donovan is an attorney licensed to practice law in Delaware since 2000. In 2017, he was appointed by Gov. John Carney to sit on the Adult Use Cannabis Task Force. His primary practice area is indigent criminal defense.

On Tuesday, Rep. Helene Keeley and Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, sponsors of HB 110 (to legalize marijuana in Delaware), introduced an amendment to the bill that should help get the law on the governor’s desk. That is, if Delawareans are truly being represented by their elected officials down at Legislative Hall.

The amendment to HB 110 is quite extensive and thoughtful, and based on the recommendations that came from the Adult Use Cannabis Task Force. With the amendment, 20 percent of the tax revenue collected will be earmarked exclusively for all substance abuse treatment programs, including opioid abuse.

In states like Colorado, where cannabis has been legally available for adults since 2014, opioid overdose deaths are steadily decreasing. Conservative estimates predict the legal cannabis market in Delaware will haul in $20-$40 million in taxes in the first year — that’s four to eight million additional treatment dollars for a state that has seen an uptick in opioid-related overdoses this past year.

Opposing view: Legalizing marijuana would do more harm than good

In addition, members of the task force recommended that retail packaging of cannabis and presentation of cannabis edibles be clearly labeled and not be enticing to children. That’s really a no-brainer, as even the grassroots activists who have championed this cause for years have insisted that cannabis be treated like alcohol (21 and older) with strict “we card” policies that have proven to greatly decrease the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors.

Legalizing the cannabis market will replace the street corner dealers with taxpaying businesses intent on keeping cannabis out of the hands of children. Currently, cannabis is readily available to children via the illicit market.

And, finally, the amendment to HB 110 would reduce the number of votes needed to pass. How? By removing the three proposed criminal penalties introduced in the original draft.

Why remove the criminal penalties? Because the two-thirds supermajority requirement to pass legislation with new criminal penalties was intended to protect individual freedoms against government intrusion and overreach, not to serve as impediment to legislation intended to advance personal liberty and reflect the will of the people to end the criminalization of conduct that is widely considered socially acceptable.

Quite fittingly, if the amendment succeeds, the bill would need a three-fifths majority of legislators voting ‘yes’ to pass. That’s 60 percent of the Legislature.

In Delaware, 61 percent of its citizens agree that cannabis should be legal for adults 21 and older. Nationwide, polls consistently show at least 60 percent of the American population approves of legalizing and regulating the market, just like alcohol.

And so, Delawareans will know one way or the other by June 30, if their interests are being served by their elected officials. They will know if the 61 percent in favor of legalizing cannabis will be fairly represented when a vote on HB 110 is finally taken. They will know if they have a voice in creating sensible policies, or if politics as usual takes that away from them.

And, if the Legislature disappoints over three-fifths of voters by failing to garner a three-fifths supermajority to pass HB 110, I hope those same voters rightly respond come November.

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