Lamont signs bill making Connecticut the 19th state to legalize recreational cannabis.
Retail target pushed back to end of ’22
Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation just after noon on Tuesday legalizing possession and use of marijuana for adults, and creating a market that is expected to lead to retail sales in 2022 with a strong component of equity for people from disadvantaged neighborhoods.
“We had a chance to learn from others and I think we got it right here in the state of Connecticut,” Lamont said. “Maybe we weren’t the first but we were the first, I think, that showed we can get it right and what that means for people going forward.”
The new law will take effect in phases, starting on July 1, when it will be legal for adults over 21 to have an ounce-and-a-half of marijuana, plus another five ounces in a locked container.
Retail sales in Connecticut are targeted to begin at the end of 2022. Initially, Lamont and some lawmakers had targeted the spring of 2022, but later passage of the bill and changes to the equity provisions pushed back that timeline.
The law places Connecticut ahead of most or all states in using cannabis legalization to reverse years of inequity in criminal prosecution that heavily targeted low-income residents and people of color. It includes significant measures to assure participation in the industry by so-called equity applicants — though not as much as some advocates wanted — and it steers most of the state’s projected revenue into disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Lamont chose the historic Old Appropriations Room in the state Capitol for the occasion, joined by a group of advocates and supporters, mainly state lawmakers who championed the bill. The governor campaigned on legalization and has been a strong proponent during his 2 1⁄2 years in office.
He applauded the $50 million in state borrowing that will be available to help social equity applicants get started in the capital-dependent business, and said the law prioritizes public health and safety.
“It is a model for the rest of the nation,” the governor said.
One of the first tasks for legislative leaders will be to make appointments to the 15-member Social Equity Council established under the law to assist social equity applicants and also develop and provide technical assistance for new business owners.
“I’m sure we will both have people reaching out to us seeking appointments, and we’ll also be soliciting people who we think might contribute a great deal so I’m sure there will be no shortage of interested people,” Senate President ProTem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said at Tuesday’s news conference.
Residents not in the medical marijuana program will be allowed to grow up to six marijuana plants indoors, in their homes, starting in mid-2023.
Connecticut’s medical marijuana program, launched in 2012, continues, with about 55,000 registered patients. Under the new law they may grow up to six plants at home starting later this year.
The General Assembly adopted the bill last week in a special legislative session, with no Republican votes, although one GOP state Senator who was absent for the lastminute final vote, Sen. Kevin Witkos, voted for the same bill a week earlier. Much of the debate, some of it between Democrats, centered on the equity provisions involving who would get licenses to operate dispensaries.
Ultimately the Senate voted final approval for the bill on June 17, the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon declaring the war on drugs, which was “really a war on people of color in our country,” Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said Tuesday.