A new state bill is being proposed that would give marijuana operators more options to place their shops throughout Delaware but may also inflame opponents who have sought restrictions.
The bill comes as local municipalities and counties continue to debate where marijuana shops should be allowed, following the legalization of the recreational marijuana market in 2023, which is set to launch soon.
The restrictions have led to about a third of Delaware’s municipalities deciding to ban marijuana shops outright from their town limits.
Under the current state law, municipalities are allowed to ban marijuana businesses, but counties are only allowed to set restrictions on where they can operate.
The new bill, Senate Bill 75, sponsored by State Sen. Trey Paradee (D-Dover) and filed late last week, will force the state’s three counties to decrease the buffers they created between marijuana shops and sensitive areas like schools, treatment facilities and libraries down to no more than 500 feet.
Paradee said the bill is aimed at addressing concerns that marijuana shop licensees are facing in Sussex County, as more than half of its towns have opted out of having marijuana shops in their jurisdictions and the county has set the widest buffers between shops and sensitive areas at 3,000 feet.
“They effectively made marijuana illegal in Sussex County, and that’s not what the voters of the state want, and that is not what the General Assembly voted for,” Paradee said.
He said the bill will also address the frustrations of business license holders in New Castle County, where some licensees told Paradee they also cannot find eligible space to operate. The northernmost county currently has a buffer set at 1,000 feet.
Hellbound and Down 