Delaware cannabis patients and advocates will gather in Dover on Wednesday to rally support for The Delaware Patient Right to Grow Act, House Bill 243. This change would allow registered patients and registered caregivers to grow medical cannabis at home. The bill will have a hearing in the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee where committee members accept public comment before voting to release the bill to the full House for consideration.

Hearing details:
Wednesday 1/29/20 @ 2:30PM
House Minority Caucus Room 
411 Legislative Avenue 
Dover, DE 19901

Patients are legally permitted to cultivate medical cannabis in about half of the states that regulate its use and distribution. In almost all cases, these provisions have led to few incidences of abuse or diversion. No state has repealed home cultivation, and there has never been a serious push to do so. 

Allowing patients to grow their own cannabis at home could dramatically increase access.  Delaware has approximately 9000 medical cannabis patients who depend on cannabis as a medicine, but insurance does not cover the cost of cannabis.  For many patients, medical expenses and a reduced ability to work combine to make the price of store-bought cannabis out of reach. For some patients, proximity to a dispensary can often be a challenge as they must drive long distances to access medical cannabis. Securely cultivating cannabis at home alleviates these issues.  Most patients respond best to specific strains of cannabis. Allowing patients, the option to grow specific strains at home assures that they will have an uninterrupted and cost-effective supply of the medicine that is best suited to their own therapeutic needs.

In addition, home cultivation would allow access to parts of the cannabis plant, such as leaves, roots, stalks and seeds, that are usually trimmed away by our current medical dispensaries before being sold.  Whole plant cannabis contains more than 100 distinct cannabinoids and numerous terpenes that also possess a variety of therapeutic effects.  Many scientists now believe that the combined administration of all these parts of the cannabis plant produce a synergistic effect that is necessary for patients to achieve maximum therapeutic benefit.

Delaware patients have waited long enough for home cultivation, lawmakers must act promptly to ensure Delaware patients have the right to grow.