Delaware legalized medical marijuana on May 13, 2011, when Gov. Jack Markell signed the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act (Senate Bill 17), making it the 16th state to allow medical use. Patients could not actually buy cannabis for four more years: Markell froze the state’s planned dispensaries in February 2012 after a warning from the U.S. attorney, restarted them in August 2013, and the first compassion center opened in Wilmington on June 26, 2015.
What Happened
The General Assembly gave the bill final approval on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, and Markell signed it two days later without a ceremony, the Associated Press reported. A spokesman said the governor wanted to sign quickly because building a state-regulated distribution system would take time.
The law let patients 18 and older with certain serious or debilitating conditions possess up to six ounces of marijuana with a state registry card. It did not allow home growing. Instead, patients were to buy from state-licensed, nonprofit “compassion centers,” one in each of Delaware’s three counties, which would grow and dispense the cannabis. The law called for those centers to be licensed by January 1, 2013.
Background: The 2012 Suspension
Delaware passed its law just as federal prosecutors began warning states that were licensing marijuana businesses. In a letter dated February 9, 2012, U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III told the state that growing, distributing or possessing marijuana outside a federal research program “is a violation of federal law,” and that state employees carrying out the act would not be immune from prosecution, NORML reported. He suggested individual patients were not a priority, but distributors could be.
Markell responded that week by suspending the compassion center program. The patient registry kept going, which left Delaware in an odd position: patients could get state cards but had no legal place to obtain marijuana and no right to grow it.
What Happened Next
In August 2013 Markell told lawmakers the Department of Health and Social Services would resume work on compassion centers, the Marijuana Policy Project reported on August 16. He cited how Rhode Island, New Jersey and other states were running their programs and said Delaware would make “considered modifications to address federal concerns.” The biggest change: instead of three centers, the state would license a single pilot center. The Associated Press story The Weed Street Journal linked at the time said that center would be capped at 150 plants and 1,500 ounces on hand. The Justice Department’s own position softened two weeks later with the August 29, 2013 Cole memo.
The pilot took longer than the “next year” Markell had promised. First State Compassion Center opened in Wilmington on June 26, 2015, when about 340 Delawareans held medical cards, according to The News Journal. More than a year later it was still the only center open, and cardholders were still struggling to get cannabis, the paper reported in September 2016. In June 2015, the same month the center opened, Markell also signed a separate bill that made possession of an ounce or less a civil offense with a $100 fine, effective in December 2015.
Where It Stands in 2026
Delaware’s cannabis laws have changed completely since the pilot center. Adult possession became legal in April 2023, after Gov. John Carney let legalization bills become law without his signature, and licensed adult-use sales began August 1, 2025. For current possession limits, taxes and patient rules, see our Delaware marijuana laws guide; for federal status, including the April 2026 move of state-licensed medical marijuana to Schedule III, see our federal laws page.
Delaware Medical Marijuana Act FAQ
When did Delaware legalize medical marijuana?
Gov. Jack Markell signed the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act on May 13, 2011.
Why was Delaware’s medical marijuana program suspended?
In February 2012 U.S. Attorney Charles Oberly warned that state-licensed growing and distribution violated federal law and that state employees were not immune. Markell suspended the planned compassion centers in response.
When did Delaware’s first dispensary open?
First State Compassion Center opened in Wilmington on June 26, 2015.
Could Delaware patients grow their own marijuana?
No. The 2011 law did not allow home cultivation, and Delaware still bans home growing for everyone.
Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.
