DE Legal Weed Sales Begin, OK MJ Init Signature Campaign Commences, More... (8/6/25)

Germany's legal marijuana-growing collectives are taking off, a legalization bill gets filed in Texas, and more.

Another marijuana legalization bill gets filed in Austin. (Creative Commons)

Delaware Becomes Latest State to See Legal Marijuana Sales. The state has become the latest to allow the legal sale of marijuana, with cash registers ringing up sales beginning last Friday.

The move comes after lawmakers legalized marijuana in 2023 and created a regulatory structure for the legal industry. The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) published final regulations in September 2024.

The sales that began on Friday were at existing medical marijuana retailers who obtained one of the 125 licenses available via lottery, allowing them to do recreational sales, too. Not all of those licensees are offering recreational marijuana yet, however.

"The OMC has worked closely with our medical marijuana operators to ensure a smooth transition to the adult-use market," said Deputy Commissioner Paul Hyland. "Their ability to convert licenses has been instrumental in fast-tracking this launch."

"Today's launch of adult-use cannabis sales by Delaware's existing medical operators is an important milestone in the rollout of the state's regulated cannabis market," said Commissioner Joshua Sanderlin on Friday.

Under the state's marijuana law, people 21 and over can possess up to an ounce of marijuana and 12 grams of cannabis concentrate. With home growing remaining illegal, retail outlets are the only legal source of weed in the state. Consumers must pay a 15 percent tax.

Oklahoma Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign to Begin Signature-Gathering. A signature-gathering campaign to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the November 2026 ballot is getting underway in Oklahoma. Petitioners will begin hitting the streets on Thursday.

The Oklahoma Responsible Cannabis Act, which would appear on the ballot as State Question 837, would legalize marijuana possession and home cultivation for people 21 and over and would subject retail sales to a 10 percent tax.

State voters rejected a marijuana legalization initiative in 2023, but the group behind this year's campaign, Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, said that unlike earlier, this time around the measure has broad support from the community and within the state's marijuana industry.

"We've been working to communicate with our industry and community across the state the last couple of months and expect to have a presence in at least a simple majority of Oklahoma counties when we begin on August 6," the group’s director, Jed Green said. "What is really encouraging, to us, is that we have broad consensus of support within our industry and community, which if you go by patient car licenses directly, you know, is a good thermometer on about 330,000 Oklahomans," Green said.

The campaign has 90 days (until November 3) to come up with 173,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot next year.

Texas Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed. Democratic state Rep. Jessica Gonzalez filed a marijuana legalization bill, House Bill 195, in the House late last month.

The bill was filed during a legislative special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to take up several issues, including last month's deadly floods and the regulation of hemp products. But Abbott's proposal to further gerrymander the state's congressional districts to help maintain Republican dominance in Washington has led Democratic lawmakers to leave the state, preventing the legislature from achieving a quorum and effectively stalling the session's work.

The bill faces daunting prospects in the GOP-controlled state legislature, but if it were to become law, adults would be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, including 15 grams of concentrates.

The bill would also allow for taxed and regulated marijuana commerce to be regulated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. That agency would issue licenses for marijuana enterprises and draft regulations to govern the nascent industry.

The measure also allocates revenues from marijuana taxes and fees as follows: 10 percent to administer the marijuana program, 10 percent to the Department of Public Safety for marijuana lab testing, 20 percent to localities with at least one licensed marijuana business, and 60 percent to the Texas Education Agency’s Foundation School Program.

The bill awaits a committee assignment.

International

Germany Has Nearly 300 Cannabis Clubs. Germany legalized marijuana possession in 2024, but not a legal marijuana market. Instead, lawmakers approved "cannabis clubs" that can grow marijuana and distribute it to their registered members. According to a survey of state-level regulatory offices, there are nearly 300 such clubs nationwide.

Regulators across the country have approved 293 pot co-ops, with two states bordering the Netherlands having approved the most. North Rhine-Westphalia has 83 approved clubs and Lower Saxony has 55.

Rhineland-Palatinate came in third with 27 clubs, and Baden-Wurttemberg followed with 23. There are seven approved clubs in Berlin.