Republicans claim flaws in marijuana legalization

HARTFORD — Republicans on the powerful Judiciary Committee on Monday probed flaws in the governor’s proposal to fully legalize marijuana for adult use and sales, underscoring potential obstacles it faces with two months to go in the General Assembly session.

But cannabis advocates said their coalition is growing and that they will continue to enlist support among lawmakers at a time when they anticipate both New York and Rhode Island might approve adult-use cannabis as soon as this year.

Minority committee members including state Reps. Richard Smith, Craig Fishbein and Rosa Rebimbas focused on sections of Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal that would expunge the criminal records of those found guilty of small amounts of controlled substances including cannabis, as well as the possibility that tens of thousands of people with convictions that currently bar them from owning firearms could become eligible for gun permits.

During the morning portion of a daylong hearing on cannabis legalization, officials from Lamont’s administration told the panel that even though a test for marijuana intoxication doesn’t yet exist — and traces of the drug can stay in bloodstreams for weeks — trained officers can tell when a driver of a motor vehicle or boat is impaired.

The ACLU of Connecticut, however, questioned the ability of even trained police officers to actually tell whether someone is intoxicated.

“These would be among the strictest laws in the United States if we do this,” said Antonio Guerrera, a former veteran member of the House of Representatives who is acting commissioner of the state Department of Transportation. “If this bill was to pass, we’d be better off.”

Fishbein, R-Wallingford, a lawyer, asked James C. Rovella, commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, details about what erased criminal records could mean for the more than 45,500 people convicted of low-level drug possession offenses between 2000 and 2019.

Rovella replied that while those people would still be barred from firearms permits under federal law, state law “very well could” allow them to apply for gun permits.

“We have a chance to repair some of the damage that has been caused by the criminalization of cannabis,” said Marc Pelka, undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning in Lamont’s budget office. He said that the Judicial Branch has no mechanism to pinpoint marijuana-only offenses, so under the proposal, substance-abuse convictions excluding narcotics and hallucinogens, would also be eligible for expungement.

“How do we get consistency from police officer to police officer saying this person is impaired and this person is not?” asked Smith, R-New Fairfield, a lawyer. “I don’t know how we enforce it.” He was told that enhanced training is the key.