{"id":116,"date":"2021-07-16T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1vbmRhcS5jb20vdW5pdGVkc3RhdGVzL2Nhbm5hYmlzLWhlbXAvMTA5MjI2Mi9sZWdhbGl6YXRpb24tb2YtbWFyaWp1YW5hLWdhaW5pbmctbW9tZW50dW0taW4tY29ubmVjdGljdXTSAQA"},"modified":"2021-07-16T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T07:00:00","slug":"legalization-of-marijuana-gaining-momentum-in-connecticut-cannabis-hemp-united-states-mondaq-news-alerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=116","title":{"rendered":"Legalization Of Marijuana Gaining Momentum In Connecticut – Cannabis & Hemp – United States – Mondaq News Alerts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

United States: <\/span> Legalization Of Marijuana Gaining Momentum In Connecticut <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\n
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16 July 2021 <\/p>\n

Cozen O’Connor <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. <\/p>\n

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\n

Connecticut state lawmakers are advancing legislation legalizing
\nrecreational use of marijuana on the heels of a recent poll conducted by the Institute for Public
\nPolicy at Sacred Heart University<\/a> (SHU) of Fairfield,
\nConnecticut. The SHU poll asked 1,000 Connecticut residents about a
\nvariety of topics, including marijuana legalization, and determined
\nthat 64 percent support legalization of both cannabis use and
\npossession, while only 18 percent oppose legalization. The SHU poll
\nalso revealed that 76.3 percent of residents believe marijuana has
\nfewer or about the same health effects as alcohol and 70 percent of
\nresidents believe marijuana has fewer effects on people than other
\n(so-called, “hard”) drugs. Connecticut first enacted a
\nmedical marijuana program in 2012, and calls for legalization of
\nrecreational use in the state have increased in recent years.<\/p>\n

House Majority Leader Jason Rojas leads the legalization effort
\nand has promoted a reform bill that appears to have the support of
\nGovernor Lamont’s administration. Lawmakers and the governor
\nhave competing reform bills and the issue of addressing social
\nequity in a legalization bill is at the heart of the disagreement.
\nTo complicate matters further, House Labor Committee Chair
\nRepresentative Robyn Porter has authored a competing bill that
\nemphasizes protection of the communities who suffered most as a
\nresult of the criminalization of marijuana and law
\nenforcement’s arrest and incarceration practices during the “war on drugs.” In Porter’s bill, “equity”
\napplicants would, for a time, receive preference in the award of
\nmarijuana dispensary licenses. While not explicitly stated in news
\noutlets, the emphasis with creating a system that would help repair
\nthe damage the war on drugs inflicted on people of color may be
\ndriven by the New York state legislation that has taken the most
\naggressive position in advancing this community in the adult use
\nlegislation there.<\/p>\n

A bill to legalize recreational marijuana use proposed by
\nGovernor Lamont, Senate Bill 888, cleared the state judiciary
\ncommittee in April on a 22-16 vote. SB888 would permit adult
\nresidents of the state age 21 and over to possess up to 15 ounces
\nof marijuana and would take effect on January 1, 2022, with sales
\nto follow in May 2022. Under the governor’s proposal, a
\ncommission on social equity would be formed and charged with
\ndeveloping recommendations by November 15, 2021, to define the
\nqualifications for an equity applicant and earmarking a minimum
\namount of tax revenues to support residents in communities
\ndisproportionately harmed by enforcement of the Controlled
\nSubstances Act to use and possession of marijuana. The competing
\nbills promoted by Representative Rojas and Representative Porter
\neach provide greater emphasis on assuring protections for
\ndisenfranchised communities.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, Connecticut decriminalized possession of
\nmarijuana and now state lawmakers may be feeling the pressure of
\nsuccessful efforts at legalization of recreational marijuana use in
\nsurrounding states. Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, (see our April 1, 2021 alert on NY state
\nlegalization<\/a>) and Vermont have each legalized adult use of
\nmarijuana in recent years. State lawmakers will reportedly meet
\nwith Governor Ned Lamont on June 1 to press for passage of a bill
\nlegalizing marijuana before end of the legislative session on June
\n9. House Speaker Matt Ritter has stated publicly his support for a
\nspecial session given the short runway remaining for this
\nlegislative term.<\/p>\n

Originally Published 1 June 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
\nguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
\nabout your specific circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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Trademarks Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of India, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States: Legalization Of Marijuana Gaining Momentum In Connecticut 16 July 2021 Cozen O’Connor To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Connecticut state lawmakers are advancing legislation legalizing recreational use of marijuana on the heels of a recent poll conducted by the Institute for Public Policy at Sacred Heart University (SHU) of Fairfield, Connecticut. The SHU poll asked 1,000 Connecticut residents about a variety of topics, including marijuana legalization, and determined that 64 percent support legalization of both cannabis use and possession, while only 18 percent oppose legalization. The SHU poll also revealed that… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}