Why Should Delaware Care?
Advocates for Delaware’s recreational marijuana industry say it could bring new vitality to the state’s economy and rectify past wrongs committed by the criminal justice system. But regulatory delays have plagued the burgeoning industry.
After a string of unanticipated delays, Delaware’s recreational marijuana industry took a big step forward after state regulators gained an FBI approval to conduct criminal background checks on aspiring marijuana operators.
The approval will allow the state to complete the background check process, which must be done before a business in the burgeoning Delaware industry will be allowed to open.
The development comes seven months after the state first submitted its federal application for what the FBI calls a service code to authorize the state to fingerprint individuals as part of a criminal background check.
The service code is needed for marijuana operators to schedule fingerprinting appointments, which allows the State Bureau of Identification to generate criminal history reports and conduct investigations on operators.
“Fingerprint-based background checks are a vital part of ensuring public safety and maintaining the integrity of the program,” Paul Hyland, acting state marijuana commissioner, said in a recent press release. “We appreciate the FBI’s collaboration and are excited that selected applicants can continue moving forward.”
Delaware legalized recreational marijuana two years ago and initially aimed to open adult-use retail shops by spring 2025.
At the end of last year, the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner, which is responsible for regulating the industry, selected through a lottery system 125 recreational marijuana business operators to run cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and retail establishments.
Since then, delays ensued caused by the state’s difficulties getting the background check service code, as well as by lengthy public debates around restrictions to limit where a marijuana business can operate.
In response, licensees have grown frustrated, with some say the delays have disrupted their business plans. Many also note that they have yet to receive their actual conditional licenses from the state, instead only possessing their successful lottery selection notices.
A revised state law
Delaware regulators originally submitted an application to the FBI for the background check service code in October 2024.
In their application, state officials were required to submit a copy of a state statute that formed the regulations for fingerprinting marijuana licensees.
But FBI officials rejected the sufficiency of the state statute, later telling Spotlight Delaware in March that they had done so because it didn’t “qualify pursuant to federal law.”
State regulators took about three months to resubmit the application, which was again denied by federal officials. The second denial led House Minority Whip Edward Osienski to introduce in early April revised legislation on background check requirements.
Lawmakers quickly passed the bill and Governor Meyer signed it into law late last month.
“Delawareans have waited long enough for a safe, legal adult-use market, and I’m glad to see that implementation is getting back on track,” Oskienski said in a statement.
Officials from the Delaware Office of the Marijuana Commissioner said that in the coming week they will notify marijuana business licensees about their next steps.
