DOVER, Del. - In a move following the legalization of adult recreational marijuana last year, the Delaware General Assembly is now focusing on the state's medical marijuana program. The House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 285, which aims to increase access to medical marijuana. This bill now awaits Gov. John Carney's signature, after which it will go into law.
The bill seeks to allow healthcare providers to determine if medical marijuana is suitable for patients and if they would benefit from using it by removing a requirement that patients have a debilitating medical condition in order to qualify. It also extends access for Delaware seniors aged 65 and older to self-certify their qualification without a written certification for use from a healthcare provider.
If passed, House Bill 285 would streamline the process of obtaining registry identification cards by allowing them to be issued with one-, two- or three-year expiration dates or an indefinite expiration for qualifying patients with a terminal illness. It would also allow the acknowledgement of out-of-state registry cards.
House Bill 355, which is aimed at providing state-level legal protections to financial institutions serving the cannabis sector, is also in the pipeline. Although nearly 40 states have legalized marijuana use to some degree, possession and distribution remain illegal federally. Contact with money traced back to marijuana operations within legal states could still be considered money laundering and expose a bank to legal risks, according to the American Bankers Association. In efforts to address this as well as safety concerns regarding large amounts of cash being used to avoid banks in Delaware's new marijuana industry, House Bill 355 was passed by the House on Thursday in a 38 to zero vote with three absent.
