Delaware officials will be accepting application’s for the state’s first adult-use marijuana business licenses ahead of schedule this month.

The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) announced on Wednesday that it will begin processing applications for cannabis retailers, cultivators, manufacturers and testing facilities on August 19, about two weeks earlier than the September 1 timeline that officials had initially put forward.

A total of 125 licenses will ultimately be issued, including 30 retailers, 60 cultivators, 30 manufacturers and five testing labs. OMC also detailed what portion of each category is reserved for social equity applicants, microbusinesses and general open licenses.

“The application guidance matrix and templates will be posted to the OMC website soon,” the office said.

While applications will be accepted later this month, Delaware Marijuana Commissioner Robert Coupe has said that the current timeline puts the launch of the market at March 2025. In the meantime, regulators have been rolling out a series of proposed regulations to stand up the forthcoming adult-use cannabis industry.

Meanwhile, the governor of Delaware recently signed several additional marijuana bills into law, including measures that would allow existing medical cannabis businesses in the state to begin recreational sales on an expedited basis, transfer regulatory authority for the medical program and make technical changes to marijuana statutes.

The dual licensing legislation is meant to allow recreational sales to begin months earlier than planned, though critics say the legislation would give an unfair market advantage to larger, more dominant businesses already operating in multiple states.

Regulators were tasked with opening applications for conversion licenses by August 1. The application window will close on November 1.

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Delaware’s medical marijuana program is also being significantly expanded under a new law that officially took effect last month.

The policy change removes limitations for patient eligibility based on a specific set of qualifying health conditions. Instead, doctors will be able to issue cannabis recommendations for any condition they see fit.

The new law also allows patients over the age of 65 to self-certify for medical cannabis access without the need for a doctor’s recommendation.

Also in June, state lawmakers sent a bill to the governor that would enact state-level protections for banks that provide services to licensed marijuana businesses.

That measure is designed to clarify that banks, credit unions, armored car services and accounting services providers are not subject to state-level prosecution simply for working with cannabis businesses.

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