Lamont presses his cannabis plan

HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday began his legislative push for the full legalization of adult-use marijuana, stressing racial equity and the potential for a sharp reduction in criminal cases.

Lamont said his proposal is comprehensive and suggested that the legislature must act this year or lose out on revenue from states such as New Jersey, whose governor signed cannabis legalization in recent days. Massachusetts has had adult-use retail sales for over two years and New York is mov

ing toward passage.

In response, the Democratic leaders of the state House of Representatives noted that there are other active marijuana legalization proposals from lawmakers, which contain significant provisions not in Lamont’s plan.

“This has been a long time coming,” Lamont told reporters. “We’ve been talking about this for ages and I think now is the time for legalized adult-use recreational marijuana in a carefully regulated way, with an emphasis on equity and justice. Prohibition doesn’t work.”

Appearing with a leading state lawmaker, a criminal justice expert, two officials from the Department of Consumer Protection, Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim and others, Lamont promised that his bill would allow entrepreneurs from innercity communities, the prime targets in the failed war on drugs, to get into the future cannabis business in a variety of potential ways. That includes the supply chain from growing and product development to retail sales and even delivery services.

Lamont’s bill projects modest revenues for the state: $33 million in the first year of sales, fiscal 2023, rising to about $95 million a year, though future estimates remain rough. Some proponents say the state can expect more than $200 million a year in revenue.

A public hearing has been scheduled for Friday on the proposal in the Judiciary Committee.

“We’re going to do this in a way that makes sure that the underground market does not have a lot of highly potent, illegal substances — fentanyl — all the ways the underground market can make this a much-more dangerous market,” Lamont said.

The Rev. Tommie Jackson of Stamford, an adviser to Lamont on equity, said fairness, justice and equality in the development of public policy is crucial. “You want policies that are promoted, that can, that do help and directly and indirectly reduce poverty,” he said, estimating that $300 million could be generated to benefit communities in the largest cities.

Lamont’s bill would also work toward expunging the criminal records of those convicted of marijuana-related charges.

Michael Lawlor, a former longtime state lawmaker and criminal justice policy official who now teaches at the University of New Haven, pointed out recent crime statistics showing that during the calendar year 2020 there were more than 7,500 marijuana-related arrests out of a statewide total of 70,000 criminal arrests of all kinds.

“If you take that out of the flow of business in our criminal courts, you allow prosecutors and judges and police to focus on the higher-risk violent offenders, and by itself that is a good thing,” Lawlor said. “You’re giving a pathway to erasure of records for people who perhaps a year ago, perhaps a decade or two ago, have been arrested or convicted of one of these marijuana-related crimes. As we all know, the collateral consequences of that type of history are significant.”

Legal adult-use cannabis would also deal with the underground market, he said. “This is really going to put a big dent in the business of organized crime,” Lawlor said. Without low-level marijuana laws, the potential police tactic of stopping motorists, then saying they smell marijuana as a pretense for searching a vehicle, would no longer be an option.

Florsheim said his city of 46,500 would welcome the opportunity to host a marijuanarelated business, because Lamont’s bill includes a portion of revenue would go to the local government, and the equity portion would allow local people to enter the business.

“There is a lot of money that can be made,” Florsheim said. “There are a lot of opportunities, I think, for the legal commercial sale of marijuana here, done in the right way.” He said that less than a hour’s drive away from his city, there are a half dozen or more dispensaries in Massachusetts that are attracting Connecticut visitors. “Obviously these are places that are taking in money hand-over-fist from eager customers.”

State Rep. Michael D’Agostino, D-Hamden, co-chairman of the legislative General Law Committee, called Lamont’s proposal comprehensive, with three major components: decriminalization, regulation and revenue-generation.

“One animating principle and theme that is embedded throughout all those components is equity,” D’Agostino said. “It’s very unique and creative what the governor has proposed here. He’s expanded the marketplace for new entrants, so you do not need hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars in capital to get into this marketplace.”

Later on Wednesday morning, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, said it’s too early in the session to commit to one bill or another. Rep. Robyn Porter, DNew Haven, co-chairwoman of the Labor Committee, has also filed legislation that is focused on equity.

“I think we still have a lot of work to do,” Rojas said. “We have a proposal here that has been presented by one of our members. And certainly we have the governor’s bill that is out there. We’ve got a couple months to figure out all those details and try to get to a policy proposal that reflects the priorities of a lot of people within the caucus, which is a complicated issue, but I think we can get there.”

Both the legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the AFL-CIO on Wednesday supported Porter’s bill, especially provisions to create new job opportunities in cities.

Interested members of the public who wish to testify before the Judiciary Committee on Lamont’s adultuse cannabis legislation, may register until Thursday at 3 p.m. by filling out a webinar request