Window for Delaware marijuana business licenses opens next Monday

Delaware’s moving one step closer to launching adult-use marijuana sales, with news that the state will start accepting license applications from entrepreneurs on Aug. 19.

The state Marijuana Commissioner’s Office will accept applications until Sept. 30, according to a press release from the agency. Eligible applicants will be entered into a lottery, which will be drawn from in late October; the specific date has yet to be announced.

Permits will then be awarded in November, beginning with cultivation licenses. Product manufacturing licenses will be issued starting Dec. 1, with retail and testing lab permits to be issued next March, according to the commissioner’s website.

Only 125 permits total will be awarded for retail, cultivation, manufacturing and testing labs, but the six existing medical marijuana companies will get first crack at legal sales under a bill signed by Gov. John Carney to fast-track the market launch. The “conversion” application process for medical licenses began on Aug. 5.

Of the new upcoming licenses available, the commissioner will issue:

The license availability will also be divided geographically by Delaware’s three counties: 25 licenses for Kent County, 59 for New Castle County and 41 for Sussex County.

The upcoming license applications won’t be particularly simple, according to the commissioner’s press release. Requirements include: