Delaware Senate poised to pass recreational marijuana bills

The Delaware Senate is expected to vote on both recreational marijuana bills Tuesday. It will be the biggest vote of the legislative session so far – and could set lawmakers up for another fight with Gov. John Carney.

Just a refresher: After years of pitfalls and missing votes, the House earlier this month passed two marijuana bills: One legalizes the “personal use quantity” of marijuana, which varies by cannabis form, for people ages 21 and older. The other creates and regulates a recreational marijuana industry.

Last year, the House and the Senate passed legislation to legalize marijuana. But it was blocked by Carney’s veto. The House attempted to overturn the veto but ultimately failed.

This will be the first time the Senate will vote on the regulation bill, which requires a three-fifths vote. Last year, it narrowly failed in the House after a key lawmaker missed the vote due to an illness.

Both bills are expected to pass the Senate, in which Democrats have a supermajority. It will be interesting to see if there is any Republican support this time around. No Republican senators voted for the legalization bill last year.

The real question is: Will Carney blow it all up?