Legislators on the House Public Safety Committee barely approved legislation this past Wednesday that would end arrests for minimal cannabis possession, substituting criminal offenses with a $100 citation.
Discussion on the legislation, which currently heads to the full House, went on for about an hour and a half, with various law enforcement groups in unanimous opposition. Representatives of the Delaware State Police who shared words in regard to the measure and how it would make it more of a challenge to identify drug dealers because they couldn’t initiate searches on suspicion of minimal marijuana possession.
“Drug dealers are saying ‘bring it on, pass the bill,'” stated Delaware State Police Sgt. Lance Skinner. “They’re getting ready to cash in.”
The legislation endorsed by Helene Keeley a Delaware Rep., a Wilmington Democrat would stop law enforcement from apprehending people for possessing up to 28 grams of cannabis, or for using marijuana privately.
Simple cannabis possession would be dealt with like a traffic ticket and would hold no criminal record. The sale and using marijuana out in public would remain against the law.
