Every state’s path to legalization is different. Delaware’s journey had more than a few speed bumps along the way, including the Governor’s veto of a legalization bill last year. While the long-overdue repeal of prohibition in The First State should be celebrated, it comes at a continued cost to all those whose lives have been derailed by decades of cannabis criminalization. Despite the hard work of justice and drug policy reform advocates, the General Assembly ultimately chose a program of legalization that is more about profits than it is about people.

Earlier this year, LPP submitted testimony to the General Assembly about the critical importance of including retroactive relief for individuals criminalized for cannabis in the legalization legislation. Retroactive relief includes two primary policies:

• Automatic record clearance for individuals with cannabis records that impede their ability to move on with their lives, and
• State-initiated resentencing, for individuals currently incarcerated or under supervision for cannabis-related cases. 

Click here for more information on Retroactive Relief.

Unfortunately, while HB 2 contemplates some funding to “assist with the restoration of civil rights and expungement of criminal records,” legislators failed to include a pathway to secure either outcome. The new law will neither automatically clear now-legal cannabis records, nor provide opportunities for release or resentencing for those still being punished by cannabis criminal sentences. The striking absence of these provisions makes Delaware's legalization package an outlier not just amongst its neighboring states, but also nationally. In 2021 and 2022, every state that legalized adult-use cannabis included automatic record clearance: New Mexico, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Missouri, and Maryland. And over half of those also included a resentencing or release provision: New Mexico, New York, Missouri, and Maryland.

Implementing a commercial market for cannabis is only part of legalization: true legalization must redress the harms of prohibition, rather than solely creating a new way for certain groups to create wealth. Delaware becoming the 22nd state to legalize cannabis certainly represents progress, but not justice. We hope to see Delaware take seriously its debt to the victims of its failed era of prohibition in the near future.