Delaware lawmakers have approved a bill to decriminalize public consumption of marijuana.
Under current law, Delaware is the only cannabis legalization state in the U.S. that imposes the threat of jail time for the public consumption, but the House Health & Human Development Committee voted 9-5 on Wednesday to advance legislation to change that.
While certain legal marijuana states like Colorado and Ohio still impose criminal penalties for public cannabis use, Delaware stands out as especially punitive, with a maximum penalty that carries the risk of jail time in addition to a fine.
Under HB 252, sponsored by Rep. Eric Morrison (D), the penalty would be reduced to a civil infraction, punishable by a $50 fine for a first offense and $100 fine for a second or subsequent offense.
Morrison told colleagues at Wednesday’s hearing that “it makes sense that if we’ve seen fit to decriminalize cannabis, that we decriminalize public consumption of it.”
“This legislation puts us in line with what the large majority of other states with decriminalized or legalized cannabis have done when it comes to public consumption,” he said.
“This change does not say it’s okay to consume cannabis in public. It simply updates the current penalty for public consumption to be commensurate with the offense,” Morrison said.
“There are bad things associated with a criminal record. Those things can include difficulty in finding work and difficulty in finding housing. There are also bad things, of course, associated with prison time. You’re taking away family members from their families. You’re taking them away from their jobs, possibly taking away income they need to meet the monthly bills, or maybe even causing them to lose their job.”
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said in an action alert on Tuesday that the state’s current penalty is “out of step with Delaware’s treatment of secondhand tobacco smoke.”
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