Delaware Cannabis

The State of Delaware legalized medical marijuana via legislation in May 2011 with the first compassion center finally making commencing sales under the authority of the Department of Public Health's Office of Medical Marijuana ("OMM") in June of 2015. It took until 2019 to have four operational compassion centers and another 3 years to reach a total of seven.

Adult-use cannabis was passed in 2023 via the Delaware Marijuana Control Act and the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner ("OMC") was created to oversee the rollout and absorption of the OMM. There will be a total of 30 retail licenses, 30 manufacturing licenses, 60 cultivation licenses, and 5 testing lab licenses, and all 125 will be awarded by lottery.

1269 applications were received to enter the lottery for new adult-use licenses between 8/16/24 and 9/30/24 and the lottery for all but open retail licenses was held on 10/24/24. The open retail license lottery was held on 12/19/24 at 1:00pm.

Adult-use cannabis sales began August 1, 2025 and the first full month of sales totaled $7.4MM

For an updated list of Delaware dispensaries open for medical and adult-use cannabis across the state,

please visit the Dispensaries in Delaware page.

Please click through to purchase a Delaware cannabis retail or cultivation license.

Cannabis Lottery

The adult-use licensing window opened on Friday, August 16, 2024 and closed on Monday, September 30, 2024.

The lottery was streamed live at 9:00am EST on 10/24/24 on the OMC's Facebook page and included 732 applicants for 108 licenses. The winners were released on 10/31/24.

There were 1269 applications in total for the 11 licenses types across the three counties (NCC 509, Kent 372, Sussex 388), generating $4.2MM in fees.

Open retail interest was so high that additional processing time was necessary and the open retail lottery took place in mid-December. NCC had 208 applicants for 7 licenses, Kent had 148 applicants for 3 licenses, and Sussex had 163 applicants for 5 licenses.

The open retail lottery awarded the final 15 licenses on Thursday, December 19, 2024, at 1:00pm.

Delaware Cannabis Lottery

Delaware Cannabis Lottery Selections

Licensing Category Breakdown

Of the 125 licenses, eligible social equity applicants ("SEAs") vied for 15 retail licenses, 10 manufacturing licenses, 20 cultivation licenses and 2 testing licenses.

The numbers in RED are the breakdowns by county, NC being New Castle, K being Kent, and S being Sussex.

The 60 cultivation licenses are tiered at 2500 SF and the breakdown of the allocation is as follows:

20 open licenses (all > 2500 SF) NC 9, K 4, S 7
20 microbusiness licenses (all < 2500 SF) NC 9, K 4, S 7
10 SE licenses <= 2500 SF NC 5, K 2, S 3
10 SE licenses > 2500 SF NC 5, K 2, S 3

The 30 manufacturing licenses are divided amongst:

10 open licenses NC 5, K 2, S 3
10 SE licenses NC 5, K 2, S 3
10 microbusiness licenses NC 5, K 2, S 3

The 30 retail licenses are divided amongst:

15 open licenses NC 9, K 4, S 7
15 SE licenses NC 9, K 4, S 7

call Jamie Campbell

Status Quo Cannabis Industry in Delaware

The current cannabis landscape includes one dozen retails through the state that are owned by six companies and supplied by 10 cultivation facilities and 7 manufacturing facilities. These operators have all converted each component of their vertical medical licenses to adult-use for a conversion fee of $200,000 per cultivation license and $100,000 per retail/manufacturing license. This money, along with $2,000,000 in additionally pledged state funding, is earmarked for grants to support the 47 Social Equity Applicants.

To discuss the Delaware cannabis market and the expected adult-use licensing process, particulars, and timeline in detail, call Jamie Campbell today at 302-750-9678

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