Whatever national organization made this forecast was unfamiliar with Delaware’s cop-dominated Old Guard. Medical marijuana was up and running by 2015, so by the next year cannabis advocates might have thought recreational use would soon follow. Yet here we are in 2025 and … no recreational weed available despite legislation legalizing it.
The path to retail ganja has been full of stumbling blocks. The latest is the movement among local governments to restrict locations for dispensaries. Most towns have banned them outright – my favorite pot-free zone is crawling-with-bars Dewey Beach – and counties have de facto banned them through zoning. If you have a doctor’s note, fine; otherwise, no devil’s lettuce for you!
I have a simple question for these benighted lawmakers: What do you imagine goes on at a cannabis dispensary? It’s not like a bar, where people are consuming the intoxicant – it’s like a package store, where you make your purchase and take it home. Nobody staggers around like Cheech and Chong. Delaware politicians could educate themselves about this easily. There are recreational dispensaries in New Jersey and Maryland they could visit if they don’t believe me.
You know what Delaware lawmakers have no problem with? Alcohol. That industry has a loud voice in Dover. But nobody talks about the social cost of alcohol to American society – the last figure I saw was $250 billion annually. Some of that is lost productivity, but a lot of it is police and emergency services caused by drunkenness. Alcohol costs us a lot more than cannabis does. If you want to see the difference, visit Amsterdam. Bars are full of loud, boisterous beer-drinkers; the cannabis coffeehouse clientele is quiet and laid-back. I know which one I’d rather rent a hotel room near, and I know which one triggers more calls to the cops.
In all the discussion about dispensary restrictions, I’ve yet to see opponents explain exactly what their objections are, so I have to assume they don’t have any legitimate ones. Consequently, when they whine about being overruled on zoning and pleading the principle of sovereignty, I have little sympathy. Frankly, some of these towns have a self-image wildly out of tune with reality. I mean, Elsmere? Camden? Seaford? These aren’t exactly Newport Beach. Are you trying to protect your residents from the riff-raff, or the other way around?
Town officials would do better to view this as an opportunity. I’ve been to the dispensary in Elkton, Md., and half the cars in the parking lot have Delaware plates, with a few Pennsylvania tags to boot. Let me put this in bold for any politicians reading: It’s a retail business that draws people into your town from outside it. Are you against bringing people into your business district? After picking up their stash they might stay for lunch. I’m sure they can find someplace nearby with a bar.