On January 25th, the Delaware House’s Health and Human Development Committee met to discuss the cannabis legalization efforts put forth in House Bill 1 and House Bill 2. 

While Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is excited that the state is contemplating legalization, we urged the legislature to further prioritize criminal justice provisions in these bills. We were disappointed to see that neither HB 1 nor HB 2 offered processes for record-clearance or resentencing, instead centering the legislation around questions of market structure. While HB 2 does allocate funding to a “Justice Reinvestment Fund” that supports record clearance, the legislation doesn’t actually include an avenue for this process. 

At LPP, we believe that legalization is only a start to remedying the harms of past criminalization. In order to properly provide justice, legalization must offer retroactive relief through record clearance and resentencing. We look forward to continuing to support Delaware as the state works to enact a justice-informed policy for cannabis legalization. 

Click here to read our testimony.