Delaware Prepares for Major Medical Marijuana Industry Growth

Delaware now has roughly 11,000 medical marijuana patients, and that number is expected to double within the next year. The state expects that about 4% of its population will become medical marijuana patients in that time.

In 2019, the state sold $19 million in medical marijuana products, according to Delaware Business Times. The state is working to approve up to 4 new medical marijuana licenses. The new licensees won’t be required to be vertically integrated like the others though.

The new licensees will have to divulge who their supplier is. Currently, the state only has 3 dispensaries open. The additional of up to 4 more allows patients to find their medicine a little closer to home. Some of the dispensaries in the state have more than one location.

Production and strain variety need to increase to satisfy patient need.

OMM director Paul Hyland said, “The pandemic changed how patients consume medical marijuana products. Delaware patients want to purchase marijuana in greater amounts and want more varieties than the current supply allows. To satisfy the increased demand for marijuana during the COVID-19 era and to meet the anticipated demand of expansion, OMM will need more production capacity. Opening new vendors was in the plans for several months; however, many processes were disrupted during the pandemic. OMM estimates production will double over the next two years.”

The expansion process isn’t going to happen overnight. It will take some time to review and approve/deny applications. It will also take a bit of time for the newly approved licensees to get their dispensaries approved for opening to start serving patients.