State takes step closer to recreational marijuana

Recreational marijuana moved closer to reality Tuesday as Democrats in the Judiciary Committee sent the governor’s bill to create a recreational cannabis market to the full General Assembly, even though the proposal, by their own admission, is still halfbaked.

“I will admit to members of this committee at the outset that this bill very much remains a work in progress,” said Rep. Steven Stafstrom, DBridgeport, co-chair of the committee.

The 200-plus-page bill deals with finance, regulatory and licensing issues, Stafstrom said, but the primary question under the jurisdiction of the judiciary committee Tuesday was whether to legalize recreational cannabis in Connecticut.

Three Democrats — Sens. Saud Anwar, DSouth Windsor, and Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, and Rep. Daniel Fox, D-Stamford — joined the Republican members of the committee in voting against the bill.

The vote was 22 in favor, 16 against the proposal, which would legalize marijuana for adult use, tax it and decriminalize it under certain circumstances.

“This conversation is far, far from over,” said Sen. Gary Winfield, DNew Haven. “I hope that we continue this conversation by voting the bill out today so that the interests of all those involved are represented in the conversation.”

Republicans’ criticism of the bill dominated much of the hourlong conversation that took place before the vote, with several citing marijuana’s status as a controlled substance federally as the reason for their no votes.

“Out of respect for the oath that I took as a state representative to uphold the federal and state constitutions, I cannot find myself in support of this,” said Rep. Craig Fishbein, RWallingford, ranking member of the committee.

Fishbein reiterated comments he made at an earlier public hearing on the bill that no one from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services “was willing to testify that this product is not of concern to them.”

“I would’ve thought that those individuals that our state taxpayers pay to make those determinations, make those recommendations, to advise us on those issues, if they felt comfortable with this would actually come to us,” he said.

Several Republicans, including Rep. Donna Veach, R-Berlin, and Sen. Dan Champagne, R-Vernon, said they are worried about the impact on children and what message legalizing cannabis could send them about drug use.

Kasser, in an emailed statement, cited similar concerns to Republicans about the health impact on young people.

“In my view no gain in tax revenue is worth the ‘cost’ of harming young adults, whose brains are still developing until the age of 25 and who are more susceptible to psychotic reactions,” she said.

“I’m also deeply concerned about the impact on public safety — people driving under the influence of cannabis when there is no reliable technology to screen for this.”

“I will admit to members of this committee at the outset that this bill very much remains a work in progress.” State Rep. Steven Stafstrom