{"id":5289,"date":"2021-06-29T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMiYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmN0cG9zdC5jb20vbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlL0Rlc2lnbmF0ZWQtd2VlZC1zbW9raW5nLWFyZWFzLW1heS1iZS1yZXF1aXJlZC1pbi0xNjI4MTY0NS5waHDSAQA"},"modified":"2021-06-29T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T07:00:00","slug":"designated-weed-smoking-areas-may-be-required-in-these-ct-cities-ctpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=5289","title":{"rendered":"Designated weed-smoking areas may be required in these CT cities – CTPost"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Outdoor weed parks? They may be coming to a city near you.<\/p>\n

Included in the law that legalized recreational use of cannabis is a provision that will require some Connecticut cities to create outdoor spaces specifically intended for using marijuana.<\/p>\n

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The law mandates that cities with a population greater than 50,000 \u201cmust designate a location in the municipality where public consumption is allowed,\u201d according to an Office of Legislative Research analysis of the bill.<\/p>\n

There are 19 cities in Connecticut that fit that population requirement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not so simple, though. That provision only applies to municipalities that choose to regulate the public use of cannabis.<\/p>\n

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So if, for example, Danbury chose to limit the public use of recreational marijuana, the city would be required by law to designate an outdoor area intended for people to smoke weed.<\/p>\n

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Danbury, among other cities, has decided to pause<\/a> any development of recreational dispensaries, but that does not appear to be enough to trigger the mandated designation of outdoor space for marijuana.<\/p>\n

As the OLR report suggests, only those municipalities that regulate the use of marijuana in public places would be required to create a specific area for weed consumption.<\/p>\n

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\u201cExisting law allows municipalities to regulate activities deemed harmful to public health, including smoking, on municipally-owned property. The bill broadens this to include property that a municipality controls but does not own,\u201d the OLR wrote. \u201cIt specifies that this regulatory authority applies to smoking tobacco or cannabis, including cannabis e-cigarette use and other types of cannabis use or consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Functionally, that may mean that cities larger than 50,000 may choose to allow people to smoke pot anywhere, or they can regulate public consumption and limit it to a specific area.<\/p>\n

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What those outdoor spaces should look like is not defined in the law.<\/p>\n

Here are the 19 Connecticut municipalities that will have to either keep marijuana use unregulated or designate a place for pot-smoking:<\/p>\n

– Bridgeport<\/p>\n

– New Haven<\/p>\n

– Stamford<\/p>\n

– Hartford<\/p>\n

– Waterbury<\/p>\n

– Norwalk<\/p>\n

– Danbury<\/p>\n