{"id":181,"date":"2021-08-03T21:23:44","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T21:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMiY2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5ld3N0aW1lcy5jb20vbG9jYWwvYXJ0aWNsZS9XaGVyZS1zLXRoZS1iZXN0LXB1YmxpYy1wbGFjZS10by1zbW9rZS13ZWVkLWluLTE2MzYxMzQwLnBocNIBAA"},"modified":"2021-08-03T21:23:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T21:23:44","slug":"wheres-the-best-public-place-to-smoke-weed-in-danbury-mayors-marijuana-brain-trust-to-weigh-in-danbury-news-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=181","title":{"rendered":"Where’s the best public place to smoke weed in Danbury? Mayor’s marijuana brain trust to weigh in. – Danbury News Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY \u2014 The way the law stands today, there\u2019s nothing stopping an adult from smoking marijuana in public, so long as it\u2019s not in a state park or a in spot where tobacco smoking is already banned.<\/p>\n

Danbury leaders say those days are numbered. But before leaders here can regulate personal cannabis use in public, the state\u2019s new marijuana decriminalization law<\/a> requires them to provide a designated public place where people can smoke pot in peace<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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If Danbury\u2019s designated place is so far out of the way that one needs a car to get there, will people make the return trip impaired? Should an accident happen, how will the city manage its liability?<\/p>\n

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Since there are no easy answers, Mayor Joe Cavo has entrusted the task of finding the ideal public space to smoke marijuana to a newly formed brain trust of department heads and city leaders.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to put this someplace, and meanwhile it is still a federal felony,\u201d said Paul Rotello, the City Council\u2019s Democratic minority leader, and a member of Cavo\u2019s brain trust. \u201cIf we provide a space where we encourage people to use marijuana recreationally and something happens and we\u2019re liable, then what happens?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Those are among the questions leaders will discuss Wednesday at the inaugural meeting of the brain trust, headed by Sharon Calitro, the city\u2019s planning director.<\/p>\n

The brain trust\u2019s work is separate from a temporary one-year ban<\/a> Danbury imposed last week on new cannabis establishments looking to start a pot business in the city, such as production or retail sales. That moratorium, spearheaded by Calitro, will give Danbury\u2019s planners and zoners time to analyze Connecticut\u2019s 300-page marijuana bill that went into effect on July 1. It will also give zoners time to decide what marijuana establishments they want to permit here, and where in the city those establishments would be permitted.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, the city\u2019s first medical marijuana dispensary<\/a> is set to open in a former bank on the west side on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

Although medical marijuana and recreational marijuana keep their distinctions under the new law, more and more leeway will be given to recreational marijuana uses as the law phases in<\/a> over the next two years.<\/p>\n

For example, in October, medical marijuana patients will be allowed to have three mature marijuana plants and three smaller marijuana plants in their home. All adults will be able to have the same total of pot plants by mid-2023. At the end of 2022, retail sales of marijuana are expected to begin in Connecticut under a state licensing system.<\/p>\n

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Danbury\u2019s brain trust is trying to get ahead of the curve while there\u2019s still time.<\/p>\n