All posts in Connecticut News

The 2021 legislative session of the Connecticut General Assembly was a particularly busy one with dozens of important new statutes being enacted that will impact the health care industry. We’ve highlighted below some of the most significant legislation affecting hospitals and individual health care providers scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2021 (unless otherwise indicated, the effective date of each Public Act is October 1, 2021). The purpose of this Alert is to summarize key areas of the law only; please refer to the full Public Acts for complete information. ACTS AFFECTING HOSPITALS Hospital Admissions: Upon admitting a patient…

After a year on the front lines, Jason Zvokel traded in his 15-year career as a Walgreens pharmacist for a different kind of drugstore: a marijuana dispensary. Now instead of administering vaccines and filling prescriptions, he’s helping customers make sense of concentrates, tablets and lozenges. His pay is 5 percent lower, he says, but the hours are more manageable. “I am so much happier,” said Zvokel, 46, who’s worked in retail since he was 18. “For the first time in years, I’m not miserable when I come home from work.” The cannabis industry is riding a pandemic high: Marijuana dispensaries…

Outside the regulation review process, legislators also are expected to take another look at the level of consumer protections, said Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, co-chair of the Public Safety & Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over gambling legislation.

Stonington _ A town meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Pawcatuck Middle School on a proposed ordinance that would ban all types of cannabis sales and production in town. No vote will be taken at the meeting as the question is on the ballot for the Oct. 5 referendum in which the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The ordinance would prohibit a “cannabis establishment” within the town. It defines a cannabis establishment as a producer, dispensary facility, cultivator, micro-cultivator, retailer, hybrid retailer, food and beverage manufacturer, product manufacturer, product packager, delivery service or transporter.  The ordinance does address whether residents will be prohibited from using cannabis products, which…

Hodges, a third-year redshirt freshman, was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm and possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana in March. He was suspended for the Hurricanes’ spring game in April, with Miami-Dade County prosecutors declining to pursue charges against him. Hodges has been eligible in Miami’s last two games, but hasn’t played.

A growing number of states now permit eligible patients to be reimbursed for their medical cannabis-related costs through their workers’ compensation insurance (WCI) plans, according to an analysis of state policies conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Researchers affiliated with the federal agency assessed rules and regulations in 36 states permitting medical cannabis access. They identified six states – Connecticut, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York – that explicitly allow for employees to have their medical cannabis expenses reimbursed. In three of those states – New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York…

A Seattle City Council committee considered a resolution on Friday that would decriminalize a wide range of activities around psychedelic drugs, including cultivation and sharing with others, by declaring those activities among the city’s lowest law enforcement priorities. The council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee heard comments from the proposal’s supporters, including Councilmember Andrew Lewis and the advocacy group Decrim Nature Seattle. While the panel did not vote on the draft resolution, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who chairs the committee, said the full City Council will likely take up the measure in coming weeks. “Hopefully the city—as tends to be…

Some of the new Connecticut laws taking effect Oct. 1 serve as evidence that transformative changes in the state are taking place despite the COVID-19 pandemic dominating the attention of lawmakers and residents alike for the past 18 months. Some, such as the legalization of recreational marijuana, got a boost from the state’s simple need to create new revenue streams. Others, like barring employers from asking job applicants their age, seem so practical as to be decades overdue in execution. The same goes for new laws that expand rules for when drivers must yield to pedestrians. These laws will affect…