Competition to operate an adult-use cannabis business in Delaware is intense.
During the application period from Aug. 19 to Sept. 30, the state’s Office of the Marijuana Commissioner received more than 1,260 applications for recreational marijuana business licenses, including 800 for 30 retail operations, the Delaware News Journal reported.
According to the Wilmington-based news outlet, the applications generated more than $4 million in fees:
- $5,000 for an open application (for applicants not seeking social equity and microbusiness licenses).
- $3,000 for a microbusiness application.
- $1,000 for a social equity application.
An initial lottery to approve applications for cultivation licenses is scheduled for Oct. 24.
A retail-only lottery will occur in late November or early December.
Lotteries will not be conducted for microbusiness cultivation licenses, open testing labs or social equity testing labs in New Castle and Sussex counties because there were not enough applications to justify it, the New Journal reported.
All applications are being reviewed to ensure they meet qualifications.
Open Retailer and Social Equity Retailer licenses accounted for more than half of the applications, according to the News Journal.
Social equity applications are designed to benefit people with marijuana-related convictions and those located in “disproportionately impacted” areas around Delaware, including parts of Dover, Laurel, Middletown and Wilmington.
Robert Coupe, Delaware’s marijuana commissioner, said his office received more applications than anticipated.
“It looks like the word got out, and yes, the response was very significant,” Coupe told the News Journal.
All existing medical marijuana operators in the state applied to have their licenses converted to adult-use permits.
