Committee gives legal pot drive a victory

Panel advances plan to set framework for sales in Connecticut

The drive to legalize marijuana in Connecticut notched its first legislative victory Monday, as a key committee advanced a plan that would establish a framework for the sale of cannabis products to adults 21 and older.

The general law committee approved the bill by a 10-8 vote, largely along party lines. The legislation still needs to be approved by the House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.

“We have a black market and we stay idle and do nothing, that black market is going to continue to thrive,” said Rep. Juan Candelaria, a New Haven Democrat who has long championed marijuana legalization.

“The opportunity for us to regulate this market and utilize these dollars and really invest them … in addiction care, that goes a long way.”

But Republican critics warned that the social costs of legalizing a drug that’s been outlawed for 80 years are too great.

“We had extensive testimony of the truly destructive nature of so much of the marijuana use that goes on,” said Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme. “I don’t believe revenue is the reason to do it … I don’t believe this is the way to go.”

It’s not the first time a legislative committee in Connecticut has endorsed legal marijuana sales for adults, but this year’s proposal is far more detailed than measures put forth in the past. Supporters of recreational marijuana say there is more momentum this year with new lawmakers who favor legalization and a new governor who does, too, but whether the bill has enough votes for final passage remains unclear.

The bill reviewed by the general law committee contains a provision that supporters say will help blunt the decadeslong damage done to African-Americans and Latinos by the war on drugs. It would give people from communities that have been adversely impacted by high rates of arrest and conviction preference in licensing for the cultivation, manufacturing and sale of cannabis products, They would also pay lower licensing fees.

Rep. Geoff Luxenberg likened the equity provision to affirmative action, reparations for Japanese-Americans interned during World War II and other steps to right past wrongs.

“When we’re undoing a vast racial injustice, it’s not enough to say ‘We fixed the policy and everyone starts at a level playing field,’” said Luxenberg, D-Manchester. “Because everyone’s not starting at a level playing field … we cannot legalize this industry and not provide economic opportunity for the people who have been most harmed. It’s wrong from a civil rights perspective and it’s wrong from a policy perspective.”

Equity in the budding marijuana industry has emerged as a key issue in several of the states that are currently considering legalization.

“No one can dispute that cannabis prohibition was racist from its intent,” said Sen. Douglas McCrory, D-Hartford. “We have a policy that’s been left over from the Jim Crow era.”

For McCrory, addressing those past inequities is essential and he was the sole Democrat on the committee to reject the measure, saying it does not go far enough to fix racial disparities in the criminal

justice system.

“Wehave an opportunity to stand up for righteousness, stand up for people have been harmed,” McCrory said.

McCrory, who grew up in Hartford’s North End, told his colleagues he witnessed those discrepancies firsthand. People in his neighborhood were penalized far more harshly for small amounts of cannabis than were his fellow students at the University of Hartford, he said.

Republican critics said there are better ways to address those disparities.

“If this is a conversation on equity, I would be happy to have that conversation,” said Rep. Vin Candelora, R-North Branford. “But I look at what this drug is doing and I can’t think it is going to be a positive for the state of Connecticut.”

Opponents of legalization predict it would result in a spike in motor vehicle accidents due to drugged driving, an increase in youth marijuana use and an influx of big corporations seeking to cash in on a potential windfall.

“This is going to have a huge, huge impact on people’s quality of life,” said Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield. “What do we tell our kids once it’s legalized. How do we tell them no?”

The general law bill is one of several relating to recreational marijuana that were introduced earlier this month. The legislature’s finance committee is expected to handle the taxing portion of the marijuana package and the judiciary committee is crafting companion legislation that would deal with criminal justice pieces, including a provision to expunge past criminal records for marijuana possession. All three measures will be combined into one omnibus bill before the end of the legislative session in early June.

Last year, the appropriations committee passed a legal marijuana bill but the issue was never voted on in the House or the Senate.

Ten states, including Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, have legalized marijuana for recreational use. But on Monday, lawmakers in New Jersey postponed a vote on a marijuana legalization bill that also contained a equity component, because the measure lacked support in the state Senate.

Lamont said during last year’s gubernatorial campaign he would make legalizing recreational marijuana a priority, but he did not include any revenue from marijuana sales in his budget proposal last month. He favored the idea in his budget address to lawmakers, however, and urged them to move forward with legislation.

Revenue estimates for legal marijuana sales have varied, with the state collecting anywhere between $30 million and $180 million a year, depending on the source of the estimates.