Delaware lets cultivators make and wholesale their own pre-rolls from 11 November

The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner has finalised amendments to Rule 5001. Under them, licensed cultivators may make pre-rolls and sell them wholesale to licensed retailers without holding a separate manufacturing licence. The amendments were published in the 1 November Delaware Register of Regulations and are scheduled to take effect on 11 November 2026.

The report lists these conditions:

• Pre-rolls may contain only flower grown by the same facility.
• A cultivator may not make pre-rolls for another business, sell under another company's brand or buy in flower from other licensees.
• Pre-rolls with concentrates or kief are excluded.
• Sales must go through licensed retailers, not directly to consumers.

The package also revises branding and packaging provisions. The proposal was published on 1 September, and comments closed on 1 October. We have not yet reviewed the final Register text.

What this means

Our analysis: the main change is that a cultivator can skip a manufacturing licence, which carries a $10,000 fee every two years, while the rest of the compliance regime stays in place.

Licence cost

Manufacturing licences cost $10,000 biennially under 4 Del. C. § 1335(b), and the number of manufacturing licences is capped at 30. Our analysis: $10,000 over two years is $5,000 a year. That assumes a cultivator would otherwise have bought a licence, and it ignores the $5,000 application fee. Whether the cultivation licence fee changes is not known.

Compliance still applies

Cultivators must track product from seed to sale under 4 Del. C. § 1334(c). Under rule 6.4.6.2, a batch in compliance testing cannot be sold until testing is complete. Packaging must be "opaque, resealable, and continually child-resistant" (4 Del. C. § 1331(13)(i)). Pre-rolls are already a listed product category (rule 8.1.1). These rule citations come from an archive copy of 4 Del. Admin. Code 5001.

Tax stays at retail

The 15% adult-use tax is charged on the retail sales price. It is treated as a tax on the retail licensee, who collects and remits it (4 Del. C. § 1383(a)). This suggests the wholesale step creates no new tax filing for the cultivator. That is an inference, not a stated rule.

This is information, not legal, tax or financial advice.

Limits

• The final Register text has not been reviewed, so the exact wording and the packaging and branding revisions are unconfirmed.
• It is not known whether cultivators need Commissioner approval or notice, whether fees change, or whether size or count limits apply to in-house pre-rolls.
• The effect on manufacturing licence holders is not published. Federal status is unchanged, and whether Delaware licences count as medical licences under the DEA's Schedule III rule is unconfirmed.

Sources

• The Marijuana Herald, "Delaware Finalizes Rule Allowing Marijuana Growers to Produce and Sell Their Own Pre-Rolls" (2 November 2026)
• Delaware Register of Regulations notice, 30 DE Reg 307 (1 November 2026)
• 4 Del. C. ch. 13, subchapter III (licences, tracking, packaging)
• 4 Del. C. ch. 13, subchapter VIII (tax)
• 4 Del. Admin. Code 5001 (archive copy)