DELAWARE Social Equity Licensing
Delaware Social Equity Applicants
A Social equity license is a special license based on ownership qualifications. A Social Equity Applicant is a Delaware resident that meets one of the following criteria:
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- At least 51% ownership and control by 1 or more individuals who have resided for at least 5 of the preceding 10 years in a disproportionately impacted area.
- At least 51% ownership and control by 1 or more individuals who meets one of the following criteria:
- Was convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for any marijuana-related offense except any of the following:
- Delivery to a minor.
- Any marijuana offense with a Tier 3 quantity of marijuana as defined in § 4751(c) of Title 16.
- The functional equivalent of the offenses described above
- Is married to or the child of a person who was convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for any marijuana related offense.
- Was convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for any marijuana-related offense except any of the following:
DELAWARE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS LICENSES
Types of Cannabis Licenses in Delaware
- Open license is a regular/standard license, see below for more information
- Microbusiness license is a special license with limitations to business operations. A microbusiness applicant is an applicant for a license who meets ALL the following criteria:
- 51% ownership and control by 1 or more individuals who have resided in Delaware for at least 5 of the preceding 10 years.
- Intends to employ no more than 10 employees.
- Will not operate a facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 2500 square feet
- Will not possess more than 1,000 marijuana plants each month
TYPES OF DELAWARE SOCIAL EQUITY MARIJUANA BUSINESS TYPES
- Marijuana Cultivation Facility – an entity licensed to cultivate, prepare, and package marijuana and sell marijuana to retail marijuana stores, to marijuana product manufacturing facilities, and to other marijuana cultivation facilities, but not to consumers. A marijuana cultivation facility may not produce marijuana concentrates, tinctures, extracts, or other marijuana products. The state plans to issue 60 Cultivators as outlined below:
- Small Cultivator:
- Indoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area less than or equal to 2500 square feet; or
- Outdoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area less than or equal to 1 acre
- Between both indoor and outdoor, the state shall issue:
- 20 Microbusiness Cultivator Licenses; and
- 10 Social Equity Cultivator Licenses.
- Small Cultivator:
NOTE: No “Open/Standard” licenses for small cultivators, meaning you will have to fit the qualifications of microbusiness or social equity to obtain a small cultivator license
- Standard (Big) Cultivator:
- Indoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 2500 square feet; or
- Outdoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area greater than 1 acre
- Between both indoor and outdoor, the state shall issue:
- 20 Open (Standard) Cultivator Licenses
- 10 Social Equity Cultivator Licenses
NOTE: No marijuana cultivation facility license may be issued for an indoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area exceeding 12,500 square feet or for an outdoor facility with a cannabis plant grow canopy area exceeding 7.5 acres
- To Recap, the state will only be issuing:
- 20 Big Standard/Open Cultivation Licenses
- 10 Big “Social Equity” Cultivation Licenses
- 20 Smaller Microbusiness Cultivation Licenses
- 10 Smaller Social Equity Cultivation Licenses
- Marijuana Manufacturing Facility – means an entity licensed to purchase marijuana; manufacture, prepare, and package marijuana products; and sell marijuana and marijuana products to other marijuana product manufacturing facilities and retail marijuana stores, but not to consumers. The state plans to issue 30 Manufacturers as outlined below:
- 10 Open/Standard Manufacturing Licenses.
- 10 Social Equity Manufacturing Licenses
- 10 Microbusiness Manufacturing Licenses
- Retail Marijuana Store- means an entity licensed to purchase marijuana from marijuana cultivation facilities; to purchase marijuana and marijuana products from marijuana product manufacturing facilities; and to sell marijuana and marijuana products to consumers. The state plans to issue 30 Retailers as outlined below:
- 15 Open/Standard Retail licenses.
- 15 Social Equity Retail licenses.
- Marijuana Testing Facility – means an entity licensed to test marijuana for potency and contaminants. The state plans to issue 5 Testing Facilities as outlined below:
- 3 Open/Standard Testing Facility licenses.
- 2 social equity Testing Facility licenses.
In May 2024, application opens for ALL types of business and licenses. The state shall begin issuing licenses around June 2024
APPLICATION AND LICENSING FEES
*Licenses are renewed every 2 years
| Business Type | App Fee | Licensing Fee* |
| Indoor Grow (<2500sqft) | $5,000 | $2,500 |
| Outdoor Grow (< 1 acre) | $5,000 | $2,500 |
| Indoor Grow (2,501 – 7,500 sqft) | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Outdoor Grow (1.1 – 2.5 acres) | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Indoor Grow (7,501 – 10,000 sqft) | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Outdoor Grow (2.6 – 5 acres) | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Indoor Grow (> 10,001 sqft) | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Outdoor Grow (> 5.1 acres) | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Manufacturing Facility | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Retail Store | $5,000 | $10,000 |
NOTE: Social Equity Applicants will only pay a nonrefundable application fee of $1,000 for all business types and 40% off the applicable license fee. Microbusiness Applicants will only pay a nonrefundable application fee of $3,000 for all business types and 40% off the applicable license fee.
HOW TO START A MARIJUANA BUSINESS IN DELAWARE
To obtain a marijuana business license in Missouri, you will be required to submit an application. As part of the application, some of the plans you will need to include the following:
- Security Plan.
- Environmental Impact Plan.
- Quality Control and Quality Assurance Plan.
- Business History Plan.
- Financial Plan.
- Community Benefits Plan.
- Research Plan.
- Cultivation, Manufacturing and/or Dispensing Plan.
- Labor Compliance Plan.
- Staffing and Training Plan.
Schedule for a complimentary 15-min consult with our licensing/application team to learn more about how we may be able to assist you.
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