Legal weed a step closer in Connecticut
Key lawmakers approve recreational marijuana
The legislature’s judiciary committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, moving Connecticut closer to joining other states in the region that have already done so.
If approved by the full legislature in the coming months, Connecticut would follow New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Lawmakers said they will be updating and improving the measure, but they approved Gov. Ned Lamont’s 207-page bill as a starting point.
The 22-16 vote was largely along party lines, but several key Democrats broke with the majority of their party and voted no. They included Sen. Alex Kasser of
Greenwich; Sen. Saud Anwar, who is a medical doctor from South Windsor; and Rep. Daniel Fox of Stamford.
The bill calls for 55% of marijuana revenue to go to communities that have been most impacted by the war on drugs, and details of that impact will be further refined by the tax-writing finance committee, lawmakers said. About 15% of the money would go toward substance abuse prevention and recovery efforts.
Rep. Stephen Stafstrom, a Bridgeport Democrat who co-chairs the judiciary committee and helped write the bill, said it is past time to legalize the drug for multiple reasons.
“The war on drugs did not work,” Stafstrom said. “There are many of us, myself included, who think this never should have been illegal under federal law.”
Sen. Will Haskell, a Westport Democrat, said that “too often” the debate around legalization revolves around taxation and raising money. But he said that is not one of his reasons for supporting the measure.
“This is a work in progress, and we’ll continue to see this evolve in the coming weeks,” Haskell said, adding that the bill “isn’t perfect.”
A key point, Haskell said, is that municipalities would still retain control through local zoning regulations over whether retail mari
juana operations would be allowed in their towns.
But Rep. Thomas O’Dea, a New Canaan Republican, argued that the state will not make any money from marijuana, saying that the societal costs for drug treatment and other problems will far outweigh any moneythat is collected from taxation. O’Dea and other opponents, including the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, have strong concerns about drivers being impaired while operating under the influence of marijuana.
“How on God’s green earth is it OK for the smell of alcohol on someone’s breath ... but the smell of marijuana is not reasonable suspicion for driving while impaired?” O’Dea asked.
Stafstrom responded that drivers could have the smell of marijuana on themselves because they had been at a friend’s house and not because they had been smoking marijuana in a car. Both Stafstrom and Sen. Gary Winfield, a NewHavenDemocratwho also co-chairs the committee, said they are open to making changes in the coming weeks and months.
“There is no perfect bill, and this is certainly amongst that crowd,” Winfield said. “I am a proponent of legalizing cannabis. We need a bill that passes through the judiciary committee.”
The bill would allow patients authorized for the state’s medical marijuana program to grow six plants at their home. Those seeking marijuana for recreational use could not grow plants at home under the current bill, but that could change in the future, lawmakers said.
The measure debated Tuesday was separate from another bill that was passed recently by the labor committee and allowed all consumers to grow their ownmarijuana. Some lawmakers have been strongly opposed to that idea in the past, saying the state would have no control over how many plants were grown in each home and the state would not share in taxation.
Rep. Craig Fishbein, a conservative Republican from Wallingford, said
Connecticut should not legalize recreational marijuana because it is illegal at the federal level.
“The fact that the feds don’t enforce their laws is a separate issue,” said Fishbein, the ranking House Republican on the committee. “Perhaps a year from now, the federal government will make this product legal under federal law. ... I sit here standing up for the federal constitution.”
Sen. Dan Champagne, a former police officer for 22 years, questioned the proposed erasure of some criminal convictions for possession of 4 ounces or less of marijuana for those who committed a crime in the past.
“That is just wrong,” Champagne, R-Vernon, said. “As this bill stands, I cannot support it.’’
Rep. Michael Quinn, a Meriden Democrat, supported the bill, even though he has concerns about there “really not being any reasonable test that can be administered by the police” on the roadside to prove that a person has been driving under the influence of marijuana.
Despite support from other groups, the Connecticut State Medical Society strongly opposes legalization.
“Physicians base our opinions on science, data from peer-reviewed writings, observation and patient interaction, which is why we believe Connecticut should not sacrifice the health and well-being of our youth for the unproven promise of increased revenues brought about by legalization of recreational marijuana,” said Dr. Gregory Shangold, president of the society. “The science and data show it’s just not worth it.”
Regarding recent moves by New York and other states, Shangold said “we cannot concede to bad policy because our neighboring states have made a bad decision. Allowing the recreational use of marijuana is bad science, bad policy and dangerous to Connecticut’s public health — especially to youth and those facing mental health and addiction challenges.”