(The Center Square) — Elderly Delawareans will be able to get medical cannabis without a physician’s prescription under a bill awaiting action by Gov. John Carney.
The measure approved by sent to Carney’s desk by the Delaware General Assembly would extend the length of a medical marijuana card from two to three years, authorize licensed Delaware medical pot dispensaries to sell to medical marijuana users from other states and allow people 65 and older to “self-certify” for a medial card.
Backers of the plan said the move will expand access to the program for Delaware’s seniors, and cut through regulatory red tape to streamline the issuance of medical marijuana registry identification cards.
“These changes will allow healthcare providers to make sound decisions about which treatments best fit their patients, and make those treatments more readily accessible to people who need them the most,” Democratic state Sen. Kyra Hoffner, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said in a statement.
If signed by Carney, the bill would also eliminate an requirement that patients must suffer from one of more than a dozen debilitating medical conditions to qualify for participation in the medical marijuana program and eliminate a renewal requirements for terminally ill patients.
The bill would also require the state Department of Health and Social Services, which oversees the medical marijuana program, to issue registry identification cards good for up to three years, and allow someone with a registry identification card or equivalent certification from another state or territory to buy medical pot in the state.
Delaware decriminalized cannabis use in 2015, making it a civil penalty subject to $100 fine. It also authorized medical use of cannabis for adult patients with certain serious illnesses.
The state legalized recreational pot last year under a pair of bills that Carney allowed to become law without his signature. Retail sales are expected to get underway next year, pending regulations for the industry.
There were 29,039 medical marijuana registration cards issued in fiscal 2023, a 14% increase from the previous year, according to state regulators. The program reported net revenue of $656,477 in the previous fiscal year, an increase from $543,111 in fiscal 2022.
State Rep. Ed Osienski, another prime sponsor of the bill and co-author of the state’s 2023 recreational cannabis law, said the changes we’ll help the medical marijuana program continue as recreational. Weed comes on the market. He said it “recognizes the need to remove outdated restrictions and breaks down the barriers that hinder patients who could truly benefit from improved access to medical marijuana.”
“Following our successful passage of the Delaware Marijuana Control Act last year, we have actively engaged with and taken feedback from medical marijuana patients,” Osienski said. “Drawing from their insights, we identified numerous ways to improve our medical marijuana program.”
