Milford City Council says ‘no’ to recreational marijuana

Residents in the city of Milford will not be buying recreational marijuana, despite Delaware becoming the 22nd state to legalize it in April 2023.

The Milford City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting recreational marijuana sales in a meeting last week by a 6-2 margin.

It considered two ordinances: one prohibiting recreational marijuana sales and a second restricting recreational retailers to particular zones and requiring council approval to open.

Although the state legalized recreational marijuana two years ago, it left regulations up to individual municipalities, paving the way for the city council’s decision. 

The council also considered passing neither ordinance, which would permit recreational marijuana sales to be treated as any other retail product without zoning restrictions.

Milford Mayor Todd Culotta emphasized the importance of meeting the wants and needs of the community, who were divided in the public comment portion of the meeting on whether recreational marijuana should be allowed in their city. 

The council’s decision to ban the sales entirely within town limits does not affect medical dispensaries, which will continue to operate as normal. 

Councilwoman Katrina Wilson was one of the two who supported recreational marijuana sales, citing conversations with her constituents in which a majority wanted the option to walk into a store and purchase a clean product.

Several public commenters agreed that they would rather go into a regulated, safe, and reputable place of business to purchase the drug.

Virtually every council member said their vote was a reflection of extensive talks with their constituents.

Vice Mayor Jason James, Sr. said allowing recreational sales will increase traffic to the town, which might not be a good thing in this context.

“You’re going to put an additional strain on the resources of the city of Milford is my concern,” he said. “I’m looking at it from a resource perspective, and we have no way to collect additional funds to help address that.”

Other public commenters said if someone wants to purchase recreational marijuana, they can go somewhere else in Delaware, just not Milford.

Some in favor of the sale argued it should be treated like alcohol. 

The vote was met with applause from those who opposed the sale of recreational marijuana.