DELAWARE - Delaware legislators in the House took a step towards protecting the marijuana business in the state July 1 as they overrode Gov. Matt Meyer's veto of SB 75 25-16. The bill aims to prevent county governments from creating restrictive regulations on legal marijuana shops and increase access to legal marijuana.
The bill passed the House last year, but Meyer vetoed it in August, raising concerns about the bill impacting the power of local decision-making.
"While I fully support the goals of implementing a safe, equitable, and accessible adult-use cannabis market in Delaware, displacing local land use authority without offering any corresponding partnership or support is not how we build durable, effective policy or trust," Meyer said.
The Senate overrode the veto in January and the House finished the override process early in the morning of July 1.
"Our intention has always been to establish a tightly regulated, but accessible market that balances public health, safety, and business opportunity," House sponsor of the bill, Ed Osienski, said in a statement. "That became seemingly impossible when our counties imposed zoning restrictions so severe that they undermined the Delaware Marijuana Control Act’s intent, and effectively banned legal cannabis operations completely."
Rep. Shannon Morris questioned the timing of the override vote, which took place months after the Senate's vote and only two hours before the end of the legislative session.
"Why wait until now to do this?" Morris said.
Osienski said the override decision came after a court ruling in May that gave the state government authority over land-use issues.
"This May, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that ‘all zoning authority rests with the General Assembly and local governments only exercise such zoning power as may be delegated to them,"' Osienski said. "With that confirmation in tow, my colleagues and I in the House made the decision to override the Governor’s veto of SB 75."
With the successful override, the law has been enacted into law.
