The Delaware Senate approved a pair of House-passed bills to legalize marijuana possession and establish regulations for an adult-use cannabis market on Tuesday, sending them to the governor.
The simple legalization proposal cleared the chamber in a 16-4 vote, while the regulatory measure passed in a 15-5 vote. Both pieces of legislation, which moved through Senate committees before advancing to the floor, are being sponsored by Rep. Ed Osienski (D).
“The legalization of adult-use recreational marijuana is inevitable because it is the will of the people,” Sen. Trey Paradee (D), who is carrying the legislation in the Senate, said ahead of the vote.
“Sixty percent of Delawareans believe that recreational use of marijuana should be legalized. That percentage will certainly grow quickly in the years to come,” he said. “The older generation that was fed Reefer Madness lies and propaganda is beginning to understand what the younger generation already knows: marijuana, by any measure, is far less harmful than alcohol, not as addictive as caffeine and nicotine and does not cause anywhere near the harmful side effects and astronomical health-related costs and consequences of tobacco and nicotine products.”
The sponsor took a similar, bifurcated approach for the reform last session
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