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SOMERS — The Board of Selectmen is planning to hold a meeting in the near future to determine residents’ opinions on whether to allow the sale and growing of recreational cannabis in town before drafting an ordinance. Town Attorney Carl Landolina met with the selectmen last week during a meeting at Town Hall to review the law and advise them on options for regulating the retail sale and growing of recreational cannabis. Adult use of recreational marijuana for those ages 21 and over became legal last July 1 in Connecticut, but the law allows municipalities to amend zoning regulations or…

Twenty-seven states have limited-licensing schemes that lead to the lack of diversity in the marijuana industry, according to a new study on equity, underscoring a growing debate about how best to boost cannabis business participation among minorities and those affected by the war on drugs. The issue of license caps has exposed a fault line in the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry’s effort to be inclusive, often pitting minority and entrepreneurial applicants against multistate operators better positioned to afford a pricey business permit in a limited-license market. ADVERTISEMENT “The best thing you can do for social equity is open up the market,”…

Congressional lawmakers just got an update on how different federal courts across the country are interpreting a spending bill rider that has generally shielded state medical marijuana programs from interference by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The provision, first approved as part of large-scale appropriations legislation in 2014 and renewed each year since, stipulates that DOJ funding cannot be used to prevent states and territories from  “implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” But courts have had varying interpretations about the extent to which those protections apply, a new report from the…

SHELTON – Recreational-use cannabis businesses will not likely be sprouting up in the city anytime soon. The Planning and Zoning Commission, at its meeting Tuesday, is considering a temporary moratorium on establishing recreational-use cannabis sales operations in the city, at least until new Shelton zoning regulations are created to address this issue. Last year, the state legislature legalized marijuana in Connecticut. Beginning July 1, it became legal for adults older than 21 to have an ounce-and-a-half of marijuana, plus another five ounces in a locked container. Retail sales in Connecticut are expected to begin as soon as this spring, under…

@DeaniWright BRISTOL – The Bristol City Council unanimously voted Tuesday evening to accept the modification of ordinances to prohibit the use of cannabis in any of Bristol’s parks or recreational properties. Section 16-3 of the city’s ordinances now reads, “It shall be prohibited, at all times, for an individual to smoke and/or use any tobacco or cannabis product in any form while at a city park or recreational property.” A second ordinance was modified to legally define cannabis products in Bristol. Such products are recognized as the legal definition of marijuana in the Connecticut General Statutes and are defined within…