The launch of Delaware’s adult-use marijuana market that was set for this year may be delayed amid a conflict with the FBI over a fingerprint background check application approval hiccup.
While state regulators have been planning to license the first recreational cannabis businesses in April—about two years after the legislature approved a pair of legalization bills—there appears to be a hitch in the process.
Specifically, it appears that the state Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC), which is responsible for regulating the market, has yet to receive approval from FBI to establish a fingerprinting system for criminal background checks of those interested in participating in the cannabis industry, as required under state statute.
Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, but FBI has previously granted a fingerprinting background system for Delaware’s medical cannabis program, so this does not seem to be a symptom of the overall state-federal marijuana policy conflict.
According to Spotlight Delaware, the federal agency said that the decision to reject regulators’ initial application was because it didn’t “qualify pursuant to federal law.” Although state officials had indicated that FBI was holding up the application, they later said its first application was denied for reasons that are currently
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