Today, Gov. Jack Markell signed SB 17 into law, making it legal for Delaware residents with certain serious medical conditions to use medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation. The bill had bipartisan sponsors and support in the legislature. This makes Delaware the 16^th state, along with the District of Columbia, to pass an effective medical marijuana law.

The law goes into effect on July 1 and will permit people diagnosed with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, decompensated cirrhosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, PTSD, intractable nausea, severe seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms, wasting syndrome, and severe debilitating pain that has not responded to other treatments or for which other treatments produced serious side effects to possess up to six ounces of marijuana without fear of arrest. Qualified patients will not be able to cultivate their own medicine, but they will be able to obtain medical marijuana from state-licensed compassion centers regulated by the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, which will also issue medical marijuana ID cards to patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor. Public use of marijuana and driving under the influence are prohibited.

“There are so many people in Delaware who are suffering unimaginable pain that this will help, and we want to be able to do what we can to provide much-needed relief for those citizens,” said Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, who sponsored the legislation. “I am very grateful that so many of my colleagues were able to look past the myths surrounding marijuana and into the eyes and hearts of those who were crying out for our help. Needless to say, I am profoundly grateful to Gov. Markell for his support of this important legislation.”

“Today is an amazing victory for seriously ill Delaware patients, who have been waiting a very long time for the chance to use the medicine they need without fear,” said Noah Mamber, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, who lobbied and mobilized patients, professionals, and grassroots activists in support of the bill. “SB17 is the most comprehensive, tightly-written medical marijuana bill in the country, and with this vote, the Delaware Legislature proved that compassion is not a red or a blue issue. It’s a human issue.”

Chris McNeely, a Dagsboro National Guard veteran and chronic pain patient with severe wasting syndrome, said, “Until this law was passed, I was afraid to use medical marijuana, even though it helped me in the past, because if I was arrested and put in jail, they could not properly care for me, and I could actually die. I am so happy I will be able to get legal relief soon.”

With this victory, we are well on our way to accomplishing MPP’s goal of 27 medical marijuana states by 2014. Keep up the good work, everybody!

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UPDATE: Gov. Markell signed the bill into law!

On Wednesday, the Delaware Senate passed the final version of SB 17, which would allow people with certain medical conditions to use marijuana without fear of arrest. Medical marijuana patients are now waiting for Gov. Markell to sign the bill into law. The governor has stated that he supports the bill and is expected to approve it very soon.

Under the new law, patients 18 and over with cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, or ALS would be permitted to use marijuana to treat their conditions with a recommendation from their doctor. While the law would not allow home cultivation, it does establish a regulated non-profit dispensary system to provide safe access for patients. There would initially be one dispensary in each of Delaware’s three counties.

If the bill becomes law, Delaware will become the 16^th state, in addition to the District of Columbia, to allow seriously ill patients to use marijuana.

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Are you a patient with a serious medical condition who might benefit from medical marijuana, a loved one of such a patient, a medical professional, or a member of law enforcement or the clergy who might be interested in speaking out? If so, please contact Noah Mamber, the Marijuana Policy Project’s legislative analyst for Delaware, at (202) 905-2025 or nmamber@mpp.org to learn how you can help pass medical marijuana legislation in Delaware this year. Please also search your personal contacts and if you know someone who falls into one of those categories and might be interested in helping, please also urge them to reach out to us.

Whether or not you are a patient, you can ask your legislators to support this sensible bill, S.B. 17, by visiting this page.

Although we need supporters from all over Delaware, we especially need people in the following areas:

* Western Newcastle county, northeast of Newark, Stanton, Marshallton, Dunlinden Acres, Hyde Park, Arundel, Sherwood II, Greenwood, Northpointe, Mendenhall Village, North Star, Meadowbrook, Milford Crossroads, Chanterelle, Paper Mill Park, Deacon’s Walk, Linden Way

* Southeastern Newcastle county, Newport, Dunleith, Wilmington Manor, Castle Hills, Collins Park, Penn Acres, Jefferson Farms, Newcastle, near Newcastle Airport, Bear

* Southwestern Newcastle county including Middletown, Wiggins Mill, Townsend, Blackbird, Delaney Corner, Clayton

* Dover and areas east, west, and southwest, including Rodney Village, Wyoming, Camden, Chaplecroft, Little Creek

* Northern Sussex county coast: Milford, Slaughter Beach, Argo Corners, Sandy Hill, Harbeson, Cave Colony, Zoar, Mt. Joy, Morris Mill, Long Neck, Hollymount, Fairmount, Angola, Marshtown, Jimtown, Belltown, Nassau, Carpenters Corner, Lewes, Lewes Beach, Green Hill, Broadkill Beach

Delaware’s carefully crafted medical marijuana legislation, S.B. 17, is expected to receive a Senate floor vote on March 31. S.B. 17 would allow the compassionate use of medical marijuana for chronically ill Delaware patients with their doctors’ recommendations. It would include tightly regulated, extremely limited distribution of medical marijuana by licensing three not-for-profit compassion centers, one in each of the Delaware counties.

We have a real chance at passing medical marijuana legislation in Delaware this year, but we can’t do it without your help. Delaware is a very small state where folks know each other. The best way to pass this legislation is to get more Delawareans involved! Delaware legislators need to hear from those whom this compassionate legislation would affect. Please share your stories, experiences, and support today!

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There was good news on medical marijuana from two statehouses late today:

In Rhode Island, the news hasn’t hit the wires yet, but a statement from the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition reports: “Tonight, Wednesday, June 3, the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 64-4 for a bill to allow the Health Department to license a non-profit compassion center to grow medical marijuana for state-approved patients.” Having already passed the Senate, the bill now goes to Gov. Donald Carcieri.

The bill would make Rhode Island the first state to ever to expand an existing medical marijuana law to permit state-licensed dispensaries. [Read more →]

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