The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) posts proposed marijuana regulations for public review as strides to open the adult-use market in Delaware continue.

The potential guidelines cover issuing marijuana establishment licenses, inspection and packaging standards, as well as testing methods for the Delaware recreational marijuana market.

Marijuana Commissioner Rob Coupe says the regulations are open for public comment until June 3, and after reviewing stakeholder recommendations, a final posting could be released July 11.

During the Marijuana Control Act Oversight Committee’s February meeting, some members pushed for apothecary-style dispensing — allowing consumers to see and smell the product before purchasing it.

Coupe says the office ultimately decided to enforce the more common pre-packaged dispensing style for safety reasons, but there is a caveat.

“They would have to explain to us how they’re going to ensure safety of the product, safety of the consumer and how they’re going to do that safely, but if there is a demand for it so to speak, and if the retailer wants to go that way, there will be a pathway for them to get permission to do it.”

He says if all goes smoothly, the adult-use recreational market is still on track to award retail dispensary licenses in March 2025.

In addition to the new regulations, OMC also announces registration is open for its Social Equity Workshops taking place in June of this year.

Social equity licenses are available to individuals who have been arrested for a marijuana-related crime or have lived in a disproportionately impacted area for five of the past 10 years.

Disproportionately impacted areas include regions in Delaware where there were high rates of marijuana-related arrests or convictions before recreational use was legalized.

Coupe says the workshops will provide an overview of social equity eligibility, banking, taxes, legal matters, real estate and an overview of the marijuana industry.

“We’re actually working on a piece that will likely start in June also, and that will be an online opportunity for folks to confirm that they’re eligible to apply as a social equity applicant,” he says.

Coupe explains that piece is largely dependent on the development of a Social Equity Disproportionately Effected Area Map, which is being created based on marijuana arrest data. He says the map will help applicants determine their eligibility based on where they live.

If an individual qualifies for a social equity license, they will have special discounts and grant opportunities for marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail licenses in the state.

Registration for the workshops can be found here and dates and locations are as follows:

• New Castle County (6/5/2024) Stanton Campus Delaware Technical Community College (400 Stanton Christiana Rd, Newark, DE 19713)
• Sussex County (6/12/2024) Owens Campus Delaware Technical Community College (21179 College Dr, Georgetown, DE 19947)
• City of Wilmington (6/18/2024) Wilmington Campus Delaware Technical Community College (333 N Shipley St, Wilmington, DE 19801)
• Kent County (6/25/2024) DNREC, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Hwy SW, Dover, DE 19901

LUTZ, Fla. — One Principal in Hillsborough County is celebrating her staff on making this year’s Schools of Excellence list.

The list was started by the State of Florida in 2017 and honors the highest performing schools statewide.

Maniscalco K-8 in Lutz made the list this year after it’s Principal, Tammy Reale, says it started focusing on data driven academic monitoring.

“The last year that we were a B was in 2021, and that kind of hit our teachers hard, like what are we doing wrong?” Reale said. “They weren’t doing anything wrong. We just needed to look at the data a little bit differently.”

It is hard to escape that data driven approach at Maniscalco.

Teachers have data points posted all over their classrooms, and the halls of the school are lined with student goals and achievements.

Principal Reale says as teachers monitor new forms of data, they have the ability to more quickly identify students that need a push, and others that are falling behind.

“It gives the teachers an opportunity to intervene earlier as they are tracking data,” Reale said.

Hillsborough County is celebrating 31 schools that made the Schools of Excellence list this year.

Currently, just over 10% of all Hillsborough County schools are recognized as Schools of Excellence.

Two US citizens and one Russian were among 20 people detained at protests in Tbilisi while Georgian lawmakers were debating a “foreign agents” bill that has sparked a political crisis, Russia’s TASS state news agency reported on Monday.

Georgia’s opposition had called on opponents on Sunday of the bill to stage an all-night protest outside parliament to prevent lawmakers from entering on Monday.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed on Sunday to push ahead with the law after opponents of the bill rallied in one of the largest protests seen since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

TASS reported, citing witnesses, that police started to push the protesters away from the service entrances of the parliament building early on Monday, leading to some scuffles.

‘Foreign agents’ bill

The “foreign agents” bill requires organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face fines. The ruling party says it is necessary to enhance the transparency of NGO funding and protect the country from outside interference.

Western countries and Georgia’s opposition denounce it as authoritarian and Russian-inspired. Critics liken it to Russia’s 2012 “foreign agent” law, which has been used to hound critics of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.

The dispute over the bill has come to be seen as key to whether Georgia, which has had traditionally warm relations with the West, continues its push for European Union and NATO membership, or instead builds ties with Russia.

The EU, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, has repeatedly said the bill could jeopardize Tbilisi’s further integration with the bloc.

Russia’s RIA news agency said the judicial committee of Georgia’s parliament approved the third reading of the bill on Monday, clearing the way for the full parliament to vote this week on completing its passage through the legislature.