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A bill headed to Delaware Gov. John Carney’s desk would expand access to medical marijuana, empowering health care providers to decide who could benefit from the therapy and eliminating the need for those over 65 to see a doctor for medical marijuana certification.
House Bill 285 was passed out of the Senate on Thursday after receiving bipartisan support in the Delaware House of Representatives in January.
The bill allows health care providers “to determine whether medical marijuana is beneficial to their patient” and empowers Delaware’s seniors to “self-certify” their qualifications to obtain a certification, eliminating the need for those ages 65 and older to see a doctor to receive approval.
The changes to Delaware’s medical marijuana program comes a year after state lawmakers legalized adult recreational marijuana and created a new legal cannabis industry in the First State.
The bill was first introduced by Rep. Ed Osienski, Sen. Kyra Hoffner and Sen. Trey Paradee in December, aiming to expand access to the program and “cut through regulatory red tape to streamline the issuance of medical marijuana registry identification cards,” according to a Senate news release Thursday.
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“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,” Hoffner said. “I want to thank my colleagues in the General Assembly for continuing to support a responsible and reasoned approach to both recreational and medical marijuana in the First State.”
What changes does the bill make?
If signed by Carney, the bill would make these changes:
- Eliminate the existing requirement that patients must suffer from one of more than a dozen specific medical conditions to qualify for Delaware’s medical marijuana program.
- Eliminate the CBD-rich and compassionate use programs that are used to treat conditions outside of the specific eligible diseases for medical marijuana therapy.
- Allow the state Department of Health and Social Services to issue registry cards that are good for up to three years, and allow permanent cards be issued to patients diagnosed with terminal illnesses.
- Permit someone with a medical marijuana card from another state or territory to access Delaware’s medical marijuana program.
Osienski said that after lawmakers passed legal recreational cannabis last year, they’ve connected with medical marijuana patients and learned of “numerous ways” legislators could improve the current program.
He said the bill “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.”
House Bill 355, which passed the state House on Thursday and now goes to the Senate for consideration, would provide “state-level legal protections” to banks, credit unions, armored car services and other business that provide financial and accounting services to Delaware’s legal marijuana industry.
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The Senate expects to take up this bill later this year. The Delaware General Assembly is on spring recess now until April 16.
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.
