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A bill to legalize marijuana in Connecticut that\u2019s being backed by the governor was approved on Friday in another committee, potentially setting it up for a floor vote next week.<\/p>\n
This comes as Gov. Ned Lamont\u2019s (D) office and legislative leaders work to resolve differences in their respective legalization proposals.\u00a0House Majority Leader Jason Rojas (D) said on Tuesday that the plan was to reach an agreement by the week\u2019s end<\/a>, with the expectation of \u201cacting on it sometime next week\u201d in the Senate.<\/p>\n The Appropriations Committee cleared the governor\u2019s bill<\/a>, which was also approved in the Judiciary Committee<\/a> in last month. The latest action sets the stage for floor action in the Senate, where it could be amended to reflect a new agreement that both Lamont and lawmakers can support.<\/p>\n\n But time is running short to pass the reform this legislative session, which ends June 9. And both parties involved in the legalization negotiations have said they\u2019d prefer to avoid tackling the issue in a special session, though that has been floated as backup plan.<\/p>\n \u201cSB 888 continues to make its way through the legislative process having now cleared its second major committee with a solid majority voting in support of legalization,\u201d DeVaughn Ward, senior legislative counsel at the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cIt\u2019s another indication that the legislature is quickly moving to pass legalization prior to the June 9th end of session deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n House Speaker Matt Ritter (D) said this week that his optimism about the prospects of passing the bill has increased based on conversations he\u2019s had with colleagues.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve sort of been struck by just having conversations as words gets out that the majority leader\u2019s working group is making progress with the governor\u2019s office\u2014and I\u2019m struck by the number of people who I thought were noes previously, or maybe who are kind of getting there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ritter said that he now feels there\u2019s a 57-43 chance that the legislation is approved, whereas he\u00a0previously gave it a 50-50 chance<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Negotiations with the governor\u2019s office have largely centered on social equity of late, and Rojas said the policy is about \u201censuring that entrance of the marketplace is able to be accessed by communities and individuals who live in the communities who have been most impacted by the war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the governor on Monday said he and legislative leaders are having \u201cgood, strong negotiations,\u201d and there\u2019s \u201cbroad agreement\u201d on policies concerning public health and safety. There\u2019s \u201cgrowing agreement\u201d with respect to using marijuana tax revenue to reinvest in communities disproportionately harmed by prohibition.<\/p>\n If a legalization measure isn\u2019t enacted this year, Lamont said earlier this month that the issue could ultimately 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 the governor 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\u00a0a question on the state\u2019s 2022 ballot that would leave the matter to voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to recent polling, if legalization did go before voters, it would pass.<\/p>\n Sixty-four percent of residents in the state favor legalizing cannabis for adult use, a survey from Sacred Heart University that was released last week found.<\/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\u00a0approved in the Labor and Public Employees Committee<\/a>\u00a0in March.<\/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\u00a0\u201coptimism abounds\u201d as lawmakers work to merge proposals<\/a>\u00a0into 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 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 Biden Budget Keeps Medical Marijuana Protections But Would Block D.C. From Legalizing Recreational Sales<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Connecticut Marijuana Legalization Bill Clears Another Committee, Setting It Up For Floor Action Next Week<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bill to legalize marijuana in Connecticut that\u2019s being backed by the governor was approved on Friday in another committee, potentially setting it up for a floor vote next week. This comes as Gov. Ned Lamont\u2019s (D) office and legislative leaders work to resolve differences in their respective legalization proposals.\u00a0HouseContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":47953,"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\/47952"}],"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=47952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47954,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47952\/revisions\/47954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Connecticut Marijuana Legalization Bill Clears Another Committee, Setting It Up For Floor Action Next Week<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"