Delaware awards first adult-use permits for marijuana cultivation, manufacturing

Delaware on Thursday awarded the state’s first adult-use marijuana licenses to cultivators and manufacturers via a lottery.

Of the 1,260-plus license applications, 727 made it to the Office of the Marijuana Commission’s lottery, which the agency hosted on Facebook Live.

Delaware’s 13 existing medical marijuana dispensaries already applied for and were awarded adult-use licenses, which are expected to be distributed in November, according to the Delaware News Journal.

Social equity retail licenses were included in Thursday’s lottery, which had witnesses and an accountant in attendance to ensure integrity, the agency said.

Because of high demand, licenses for open retail will be awarded in a separate lottery in December.

A random-number software system was used to select lottery numbers assigned to eligible applicants, Marijuana Commissioner Rob Coupe said.

The commission held 21 individual drawings for each license type in each of Delaware’s three counties.

Lotteries were not held for testing labs because the number of applicants did not exceed the total licenses available.

Licenses previously were awarded to social equity applicants for micro cultivation and micro manufacturing in Sussex County because the number of applications was the same as available licenses, the News Journal reported.

Lottery winners still must complete more of the state’s licensing phases before approaching local governments about building facilities.

The paid applications of businesses that did not win licenses will be saved for potential future lotteries.