{"id":403,"date":"2021-07-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMibGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1vbmRhcS5jb20vdW5pdGVkc3RhdGVzL2Nhbm5hYmlzLWhlbXAvMTA5MjAxOC9jb25uZWN0aWN1dC1zZW5hdGUtcGFzc2VzLWFkdWx0LXVzZS1tYXJpanVhbmEtYmlsbNIBAA"},"modified":"2021-07-15T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T07:00:00","slug":"connecticut-senate-passes-adult-use-marijuana-bill-cannabis-hemp-united-states-mondaq-news-alerts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut Senate Passes Adult-Use Marijuana Bill &#8211; Cannabis &amp; Hemp &#8211; United States &#8211; Mondaq News Alerts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><h2> <span class=\"region-heading\">United States: <\/span> Connecticut Senate Passes Adult-Use Marijuana Bill <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-author-info\">\n<div class=\"article-author-info-left\">\n<div class=\"smalltext\">\n<p>15 July 2021 <\/p>\n<p> Shipman &amp; Goodwin LLP <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"authorphoto\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mondaq.com\/Home\/Redirect\/1921050?mode=author&amp;article_id=1092018\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"View this authors biography on their website\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/connecticut-senate-passes-adult-use-marijuana-bill-cannabis-hemp-united-states-mondaq-news-alerts.webp\" width=\"105\" height=\"108\"><\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. <\/p>\n<div id=\"articlebody\">\n<div>\n<p>Early this morning the Senate approved a bill decriminalizing<br \/>\nrecreational marijuana for adults age 21 and over and creating the<br \/>\nframework for a legal cannabis market in Connecticut. The bill now<br \/>\ngoes to a closely divided House of Representatives with less than<br \/>\ntwo days before the clock runs out on the current legislative<br \/>\nsession.<\/p>\n<p>Legislators introduced the final bill late on Saturday, after<br \/>\nreaching a deal with the Governor.&nbsp; The final 297-page bill<br \/>\nincorporates elements of the Governor&#8217;s bill (SB 888) and the<br \/>\nlabor committee bill (HB 6377).&nbsp; It contains compromises on<br \/>\nhomegrown marijuana and license priority. If passed by the House<br \/>\nand signed into law by the Governor, the law would:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Legalize possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana, and allow<br \/>\nanother 5 ounces to be kept legally in the home or a locked<br \/>\nvehicle, beginning January 1, 2022.<\/li>\n<li>Permit homegrown marijuana for holders of medical marijuana<br \/>\ncards on October 1, 2022 and to others in July 2023.<\/li>\n<li>Automatically expunge certain marijuana convictions and provide<br \/>\na pathway to expunge others.<\/li>\n<li>Prohibit employers from taking adverse actions against<br \/>\nemployees merely for testing positive for cannabis metabolites,<br \/>\nabsent controlling federal restrictions.<\/li>\n<li>Prohibit educational institutions from penalizing students<br \/>\nmerely for testing positive for cannabis metabolites, absent<br \/>\ncontrolling federal restrictions.<\/li>\n<li>Allow municipalities to prohibit marijuana businesses or ban<br \/>\nmarijuana delivery within their jurisdictions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The law also controls licensing of marijuana growers, retailers,<br \/>\nand delivery services.&nbsp; Here are some of the key requirements<br \/>\nfor licenses:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Half of the initial licenses will be reserved for social equity<br \/>\napplicants*&nbsp;who will receive priority in license processing<br \/>\nand approval.<\/li>\n<li>A 15-person Social Equity Council will set rules for social<br \/>\nequity applicants and review their applications.<\/li>\n<li>The state will create two lotteries for licenses, the first<br \/>\nonly for social equity applicants and the second for all other<br \/>\napplicants.<\/li>\n<li>Applicants must pay a fee to enter the lottery, ranging from<br \/>\n$250 to $1,000, depending on the size and type of business.<\/li>\n<li>Licenses will range in cost from $5,000 to $3 million,<br \/>\ndepending on the size and type of business, with a 50% discount for<br \/>\nsocial equity applicants and social equity joint ventures.<\/li>\n<li>Existing medical marijuana dispensaries who seek to convert<br \/>\ninto hybrid retailers (i.e., those selling both medical and<br \/>\nrecreational marijuana) must pay a licensing fee of $1<br \/>\nmillion.<\/li>\n<li>Applications from dispensary facilities that wish to convert to<br \/>\nhybrid retailers will be accepted on or after July 1, 2021.<\/li>\n<li>All other applications will be accepted no later than 30 days<br \/>\nfrom the date in which the Social Equity Council posts application<br \/>\ncriteria on its website, which must occur by September 1,<br \/>\n2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the bill makes significant strides towards ensuring equity<br \/>\nin the would-be legal cannabis market, existing businesses with<br \/>\nmarket experience and capital will still have the upper hand.&nbsp;<br \/>\nIn addition, the provision allowing municipalities to ban cannabis<br \/>\nbusinesses may lead to a patchwork of conflicting local<br \/>\nregulations, leaving businesses to operate in legal quicksand.<\/p>\n<p>The bill imposes a myriad of requirements on licensing,<br \/>\ntaxation, and business operations. Stay tuned for an in-depth<br \/>\nanalysis of those requirements if the bill becomes law.<\/p>\n<p>_____<br \/><em>*A &#8220;social equity applicant&#8221; means an applicant who<br \/>\nis at least 65% owned and controlled by an individual or<br \/>\nindividuals who:<\/em><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><em>&nbsp;<\/em> <em>Had an average household income of less<br \/>\nthan 300% of the state median household income over the last three<br \/>\ntax years;&nbsp;<u>and<\/u><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>&nbsp;<\/em> <em>(i) Was a resident of a disproportionately<br \/>\nimpacted area for at least five of the ten years immediately<br \/>\npreceding the date of such application;&nbsp;<u>or<\/u>&nbsp;(ii)<br \/>\nWas a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for not less<br \/>\nthan nine years prior to attaining the age of eighteen.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>The content of this article is intended to provide a general<br \/>\nguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought<br \/>\nabout your specific circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"populararticles\">\n<p>POPULAR ARTICLES ON: Cannabis &amp; Hemp from United States<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\"> <a class=\"related-article-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mondaq.com\/unitedstates\/employment-and-workforce-wellbeing\/1098434\/doj-approves-employers39-covid-19-vaccine-requirements?type=popular\">DOJ Approves Employers&#8217; COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>Cozen O&#8217;Connor<\/p>\n<p>Eliminating any remaining doubt as to whether the Emergency Use Authorization (or EUA) status of approved COVID-19 vaccines bars private employers from implementing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United States: Connecticut Senate Passes Adult-Use Marijuana Bill 15 July 2021 Shipman &amp; Goodwin LLP To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Early this morning the Senate approved a bill decriminalizing recreational marijuana for adults age 21 and over and creating the framework for a legal cannabis market in Connecticut. The bill now goes to a closely divided House of Representatives with less than two days before the clock runs out on the current legislative session. Legislators introduced the final bill late on Saturday, after reaching a deal with the Governor.&nbsp; The&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":404,"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-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/connecticut-senate-passes-adult-use-marijuana-bill-cannabis-hemp-united-states-mondaq-news-alerts.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","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=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}