Legal weed bill heads to the House

HARTFORD — A bill that would begin the process of selling legal weed in Connecticut passed a key legislative committee on Thursday — and now heads to the House for a first-ever vote.

The 27-24 vote by the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee broke mostly along party lines, with majority Democrats in support and Republicans mostly opposed.

“I think this is a practical move for us to continue the conversation,” said state Rep. Juan Candelaria, D-New Haven, and a supporter.

Some Republicans supported continuing the discussion, but offered no guarantee that they would vote for legal pot on the House or Senate floor.

“I have some concerns about this moving forward, but this bill deserves an opportunity for a finer conversation,” said state Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and a committee co-chairman.

Candelaria told the committee— given the fact that Massachusetts is beginning legal sales this summer and Rhode Island is talking about legalizing pot — it’s only a matter of time before Connecticut allows sales.

The bill does not legalize weed but instead requires state departments to develop a plan to oversee sales and determine costs involved. A plan would be presented to the Legislature by Oct 1.

Legal sale of marijuana could bring in between $45 million and $150 million annually, depending on estimates supporters say.

State Rep. Pam Staneski, R-Milford, cited the cost of creating a new regulatory body to oversee sales as a reason for voting against the bill. “Right now we don’t have money for that regulating body,” she said.

A different bill that legalized the sale of weed to adults over 21 failed to make it through the general law committee earlier in the session.

Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media David Lipton, managing partner of Advanced Grow Labs, a medical marijuana production facility in West Haven, inspects a marijuana plant.