Last year’s roller-coaster ride that ultimately saw Delaware once again fail to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana led some advocates to predict the quest was dead until at least 2025.
That’s when Gov. John Carney, the staunchest foe and biggest impediment, leaves office.
But with more progressives winning election to the state House and Senate in November, both chambers might finally have veto-proof majorities to override the continued objections of Carney.
“The governor’s position hasn’t changed,’’ spokeswoman Emily Hershman said this week. Asked whether Carney, a second-term Democrat who by law can’t seek a third term, might again use his veto pen to stymie the legalization effort, Hershman demurred. “We don’t speculate on that question,’’ she said.
Despite the governor’s intransigence, prime sponsor Rep. Ed Osienski, a Newark-area Democrat, has reintroduced the two-pronged legislation. One of the bills would simply legalize weed for anyone 21 and over. The other would create a market with a 15% tax on sales, up to 30 retailers, and a regulatory structure.