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Facing a tight deadline, a top Connecticut lawmaker said on Tuesday that a bill to legalize marijuana may be taken up in a special session after the legislature completes its regular business for the year.<\/p>\n
With the June 9 end of the legislative session less than a month away, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D) was asked about the prospects of passing legislation to end cannabis criminalization in 2021\u2014and he said lawmakers have been having \u201cgreat conversations\u201d with Gov. Ned Lamont\u2019s (D) administration as they work through competing reform proposals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those issues that we\u2019re working through some of the details that were of concern to everyone over the past couple months, but we\u2019re making progress,\u201d Rojas told<\/a> a reporter from CT News Junkie during a press conference.<\/p>\n House Speaker Matt Ritter (D) chimed in to say that\u00a0\u201cif we can find a path to a deal, it\u2019s the kind of thing that I think you could always go into overtime if you had to,\u201d adding that \u201cwe\u2019d all be comfortable coming to special session for that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the Connecticut lawmakers discuss marijuana legalization, starting around 24:40 into the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n But while some progress has been made in reconciling competing reform proposals from the governor and the legislature, it\u2019s not clear how close lawmakers are to reaching a deal and moving a proposal to floor votes\u2014and Lamont is still waiting to review updated legalization legislation that\u2019s in the process of being drafted, he said on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you that [administration staff has] put together a very complete law for consideration by the legislature,\u201d the governor said, referring to his own legalization proposal. \u201cIt\u2019s sitting on their desk, and we\u2019re ready for some decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Lamont\u2019s chief of staff added that administration officials have been \u201cmeeting with legislative negotiators,\u201d and they\u2019re \u201cwaiting for them to provide us a revised draft\u201d of a reform bill.<\/p>\n A bill to legalize marijuana for adult use that the governor is backing cleared the Judiciary Committee last month<\/a> after being amended by the panel. But if a legalization measure isn\u2019t enacted this year, Lamont said that he anticipates that the issue could go before voters.<\/p>\n \u201cMarijuana is sort of interesting to me. When it goes to a vote of the people through some sort of a referendum, it passes overwhelmingly. When it goes through a legislature and a lot of telephone calls are made, it\u2019s slim or doesn\u2019t pass,\u201d Lamont said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to do it through the legislature. Folks are elected to make a decision, and we\u2019ll see where it goes. If it doesn\u2019t, we\u2019ll probably end up in a referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n Ritter similarly said last year that if the legislature isn\u2019t able to pass a legalization bill, he will move to put a question on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot that would leave the matter to voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n A competing legalization measure from Rep. Robyn Porter (D), which is favored by many legalization advocates for its focus on social equity, was approved in the Labor and Public Employees Committee<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n \u2014 A survey from Sacred Heart University (SHU) that was released last month found that about 66 percent of people in the state favor legalizing cannabis for adult use<\/a>, while 27 percent are opposed.<\/p>\n Lamont, who convened an informal work group in recent months to\u00a0make recommendations on the policy change<\/a>, initially described his legalization plan as a \u201ccomprehensive framework for the cultivation, manufacture, sale, possession, use, and taxation of cannabis that prioritizes public health, public safety, and social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n But while advocates have strongly criticized the governor\u2019s plan as inadequate when it comes to equity provisions, Ritter said in March that \u201coptimism abounds\u201d as lawmakers work to merge proposals<\/a> into a final legalization bill.<\/p>\n Rojas also said that \u201cin principle, equity is important to both the administration and the legislature, and we\u2019re going to work through those details.\u201d<\/p>\n To that end, the majority leader said that working groups have been formed in the Democratic caucuses of the legislature to go through the governor\u2019s proposal and the committee-approved reform bill.<\/p>\n In February, a Lamont administration official stressed during a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee that Lamont\u2019s proposal it is \u201cnot a final bill,\u201d and\u00a0they want activists \u201cat the table\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to further inform the legislation.<\/p>\n The legislature has considered legalization proposals on several occasions in recent years, including a bill that Democrats\u00a0introduced last year on the governor\u2019s behalf<\/a>. Those bills stalled, however.<\/p>\n Lamont\u00a0reiterated his support for legalizing marijuana<\/a>\u00a0during his annual State of the State address in January, stating that he would be working with the legislature to advance the reform this session.<\/p>\n Ritter said in November that\u00a0legalization in the state is \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0He added later that month that \u201cI think it\u2019s got\u00a0a 50\u201350 chance of passing<\/a>\u00a0[in 2021], and I think you should have a vote regardless.\u201d The governor said in an interview earlier this year that he puts the odds of his legislation passing at\u00a0\u201c60-40 percent chance.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The governor has compared the\u00a0need for regional coordination on marijuana policy<\/a>\u00a0to the coronavirus response, stating that officials have \u201cgot to think regionally when it comes to how we deal with the pandemic\u2014and I think we have to think regionally when it comes to marijuana, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said that legalization in Connecticut could\u00a0potentially reduce the spread of COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0by limiting out-of-state trips to purchase legal cannabis in neighboring states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey.<\/p>\n CBD Company\u2019s Appeal Could Let Marijuana And Psychedelics Companies Trademark Businesses Pre-Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top Connecticut Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Bill Could Get Bumped To Special Session<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Facing a tight deadline, a top Connecticut lawmaker said on Tuesday that a bill to legalize marijuana may be taken up in a special session after the legislature completes its regular business for the year. With the June 9 end of the legislative session less than a month away, HouseContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":47640,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47641,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47639\/revisions\/47641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top Connecticut Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Bill Could Get Bumped To Special Session<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"