At least 19 social equity applicants have had their conditional adult-use marijuana licenses denied after falling victim to what Delaware's Office of the Marijuana Commissioner calls "predatory" consulting contracts. Georgetown resident Jacqueline Lacy thought the postcard she received in the mail in 2024 offering to help her qualify for a license to grow adult-use cannabis was from the state of Delaware.
But "Cannabis Social Equity Assistance" was actually an Arizona consulting firm, Cannabis Business Advisors, headed by investor and entrepreneur Michael Halow. Now, Lacy and 18 other applicants' dreams of starting a cannabis business — through a state social equity program that helps disadvantaged Delawareans — are in limbo. OMC Commissioner Joshua Sanderlin said they had to deny the 23 conditional licenses to stop the contracts from taking effect.
"There wasn't really a lot we could do to find a way to not throw the baby out with the bath water," Sanderlin said. "But unfortunately, we were constrained in what we could actually do."
Lacy said she was drowning in application deadlines, so she said yes when the consultants promised to pay for the application and licensing costs and help her set up her business. She signed three agreements, but she said she didn't really understand them. It was only later that she had a lawyer friend review them.
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