I wonder if this is a sign that the bill will at least get a vote in the House? Which would be positive news are the General Assembly’s ridiculous love of task forces nearly killed this bill through confusion and incompetence.
First off, the Amendment makes the bill easier to pass. Instead of a two-thirds majority vote, which would have been 28 votes in the House and 14 in the Senate, the bill will now be a 3/5ths majority vote (25 votes in House, 13 in Senate). Hey, how about simple majority? I suppose there are tax issues that prevent that.
Second, the Amendment adds a number of recommendations from that ill fated Task Force the held meetings earlier this year. The recommendations concern the potential regulation of marijuana, from consumer safety and impaired driving, to taxation and licensing. The amendment has provisions that would regulate marijuana more strictly, with more controls for safe cultivation, seed to sale tracking, random testing and consumer safeguards that enhance educational labeling and prohibit products that look like candy or cartoon characters.
The Amendment also contains language that further clarifies employer protections as well as explicit language directing 10 percent of tax proceeds to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to improve driving under the influence enforcement through specific training from drug recognition experts, the purchase of devices that measure THC levels as they become available, and implementation of pilot programs to better identify and deter drugged driving.
“Sen. Margaret Rose Henry and I took the discussion and comments received during the Adult Use Cannabis Task Force seriously and we believe this amendment reflects the hard work of the task force members. The Adult Use Cannabis Task Force brought together a variety of stakeholders and has compiled thoughtful and diverse information that would improve House Bill 110,” said Rep. Helene Keeley (D), one of the legislation’s sponsors. “It has been a priority of mine to take our time and carefully study the issues and industries that would be impacted by cannabis regulation. We have the opportunity to create an entirely new industry in Delaware and I am committed to ensuring that cannabis is regulated responsibly and safely.”
“The devil is in the details, and that’s why we’ve strived to be deliberate, serious, and thoughtful about legalizing and regulating cannabis,” said Sen. Margaret Rose Henry (D), another one of the sponsors of HB110. “This amendment is a reflection of that effort and of our commitment to addressing good faith questions around the implementation and enforcement of HB 110. I’m hopeful that it will help us move forward on this long-overdue correction of criminal justice policy in Delaware.”
The legislation now awaits a vote in the House. If it is not passed by the House and Senate this year, it will have to be reintroduced in the new session of the General Assembly in January 2019. A University of Delaware poll has indicated that 61 percent of Delaware voters support legalizing cannabis.
Its time for a smoke in in both chambers. Don’t these people know in 2018 that ALCOHOL is the gateway drug, not pot? Any legislator opposed should be required to deliver their research to the rest. 25,000 studies have been done on it. All these wild, outrageous points raised by the opposition can be easily challenged by the facts in those studies.
Notice their dwelling on “enforcement” and I dare say ways to make up for the loss of revenue from alcohol related DUI’s. Suspect the standard for “drugged driving” will be Any to ensnare the maximum revenue, their just shifting gears in the pursuit of tickets, money and incarceration for fun and profit. As noted the usual incompetence, stupidity and greed will likely influence the outcome. Tra La, ’tis Delaware.
There’s really no way to accurately test of someone is actively “on the reefers” (technical term) other than blood testing.
So if F.O.P boy, John carney and his merry band of DINOS want to start demanding people surrender their blood at traffic stops, I guess that is one way to do it.
It just speaks to how stupid and entrenched these idiots are. They are missing the HUGE revenue geyser of taxing cannabis sales in favor of some tickets… and if people are like me, they drive WAY better, slower, and more attentively after a puff or 2. To catch users like me, you’ll have to set up check points on every road and blood-test everyone.
It’s like Carney and Friend’s entire knowledge of cannabis intoxication comes from Reefer Madness and Cheech and Chong.
There’s no way to test yet. But there is a good deal of entrepreneurial activity to come up with a pot breathalyzer-equivalent. What might have been smart here would be to legalize the stuff and set aside some of the revenues to entice one of these start ups here. Instead of providing law enforcement their usual cut.
that WOULD have been smart. Too bad that makes it a non-starter for Carney and crew.
“directing 10 percent of tax proceeds to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to improve driving under the influence enforcement through specific training from drug recognition experts, the purchase of devices that measure THC levels as they become available, and implementation of pilot programs to better identify and deter drugged driving.”
To some extent, setting aside money to purchase something that doesn’t exist is a way to help make it exist, no?
Yes, except there is something of a race to get these tests developed and to market since CO legalized. The market for these tests will get bigger and we would add a small piece to that. I think we could not just add to market demand, but perhaps help create a market solution.
Is there some kind of field test to perform before they test people with some kind of device? People can easily pass a drunk driving field test after smoking weed. The effect of Marijuana on motor skills is minimal at best.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/does-marijuana-use-affect-driving
https://www.usada.org/substances/marijuana-faq/