Connecticut lawmakers pass tax bill directing legal weed revenue to address equity and the impact of the war on drugs – Hartford Courant
Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Wolcott, said the “first priority” should be to target money for substance abuse and mental health treatment. Rep. Sean Scanlon, a Guilford Democrat and House chairman of the finance committee, said final legislation will increase funding for those areas.
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Connecticut battle over legal weed focuses on allowing homegrown cannabis and providing help for those arrested in the war on drugs – Hartford Courant
CT CannaWarriors Cody Roberts smokes marijuana in front of the state Capitol in Hartford Tuesday afternoon. He and other cannabis equity advocates gathered at the Legislative Office Building and then marched to the state Capitol in support of a bill to legalize recreational marijuana. (Brad Horrigan/The Hartford Courant)
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Majority Of Connecticut Residents Back Marijuana Legalization And Expungements, Poll Finds As Reform Bills Advance – Marijuana Moment
Washington, D.C. lawmakers on Friday held a joint hearing on a pair of bills to authorize the legal sale of recreational marijuana and significantly expand the existing medical cannabis program in the nation’s capital. The District Council’s Committee of the Whole, along with the Judiciary and Public Safety and Business and Economic Development Committees, took testimony from about 100 people on the legislation over the course of several hours. They heard numerous recommendations on the legalization proposal, ranging from enhancing social equity provisions to ensuring that medical cannabis patients continue to have access to their medicine to establishing regulations for…
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Legal weed still uncertain in Connecticut this year, despite momentum in New York and New Jersey – Hartford Courant
“I have never felt that the marijuana money should be used to subsidize towns’ operating budgets,” he said. “We should be helping our cities through the PILOT system, which has been around for a long time — just underfunded. But marijuana revenues, to me, should not be a source of revenue for towns, other than the local property tax they can collect. It should go to equity. It should go to helping small businesses in urban areas. Juvenile justice programs and, yes, for treatment and other things like that. So I would agree with the minority leader on that —…
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Connecticut Governor Says Marijuana Legalization Will Be Decided By Voters If Lawmakers Fail To Enact Reform – Marijuana Moment
A North Carolina Senate committee on Tuesday approved a revised bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state. This comes one week after the panel held a hearing to discuss the legislation and approve changes, but members did not vote at that prior meeting. Senators advanced the measure this time in a voice vote. A previous version of the reform legislation cleared Judiciary and another committee last month, but it was rereferred earlier this month. The bill must still clear the Senate Health Care and Rules and Operations Committees in order to reach the floor before potentially heading to the…
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Lawmakers move closer to legalizing marijuana in Connecticut – WFSB
HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) — Legalizing recreational marijuana in Connecticut has moved a step closer. On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee voted ‘yes,’ most Democrats saying ‘yes,’ as most Republicans voted ‘no.’ There’s no question that the pressure is on, especially now that New York has legalized marijuana and it’s been legal in Massachusetts for a few years. Legalizing recreational marijuana in Connecticut has moved a step closer. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont supports it, and wants it passed this year. “What we are trying to do as we maneuver through this process is to align our legalization effort in many respects as…
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CT takes a step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana – CTPost
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 half baked. “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, D-Bridgeport, 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…
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Connecticut Lawmakers Approve Governor’s Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee – Marijuana Moment
A bill to legalize marijuana in Connecticut that’s being backed by the governor was approved by a key committee on Tuesday—but it “remains a work in progress,” the chairman said. The legislation, which has been amended since its introduction to include a series of new social equity provisions, advanced through the legislature’s Judiciary Committee after a 22-16 vote. But it’s not the only legalization bill that lawmakers are considering. A competing proposal from Rep. Robyn Porter (D) was approved in the Labor and Public Employees Committee last month. With the new amendments to Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) bill, the measures…
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