Moving responsibly toward legal pot

Delaware health and social services officials recently awarded a contract to a Harrington firm to provide independent testing for potency and quality of medical marijuana distributed through state-licensed dispensaries. This is an essential step in Delaware's slow but inevitable crawl toward legalization of marijuana use by adults.

Those who have medical cards to purchase marijuana for addressing specified pains and ailments need certifiable assurance that the product they are buying is pure, meets stated levels of potency, and doesn't come with unpredictable problems often associated with marijuana bought on the street.

That is one of the principal and compelling arguments advanced by the First State Compassion Center, which operates the only legal dispensary in Delaware. People complain that they can buy marijuana on the street for less money than what they are required to pay at the dispensary.

But marijuana is a potent drug, subject to tampering with other substances. Common sense dictates that the legal route would lower risks but increase costs. Contracting an independent testing agency to test marijuana sold in medical dispensaries will give Delaware more experience with the uncertainties of handling the drug.

If and when the plant is legalized for adult use, the state will have a head start on providing information for responsible labeling that will allow those who want to use marijuana to make wise decisions.

The medical marijuana and independent testing experience, along with careful observation of pitfalls experienced by states that already have legalized it, will put Delaware in a stronger position to plan effective education for safeguarding people against unintended or unforeseen problems. Legalization will bring greater access to an almost infinite variety of marijuana products. Education will be critical as we venture further into this psychopharma frontier.

In 2015, Delaware removed criminal penalties for marijuana possession but retained laws making possession subject to fines of $100 and up. Arguments for keeping adult marijuana possession illegal are growing thin. The state is moving forward prudently and slowly on this issue, but at least we're moving forward. Education and freedom, not regulation and prohibition, should be bedrock policy for Delaware.