CT Senate Passes Marijuana Bill, But Lamont Threatens Veto

CONNECTICUT — The state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill legalizing recreational marijuana for adults by 19-12 vote. Gov. Ned Lamont, who has championed the proposed legislation through Hartford, threatened to veto it because of a new amendment.

Senate Bill 1201 is fundamentally the same as an older bill, but carried one major change. The new amendment broadly expands the eligibility for the state's licensing program to include anyone with past arrests for marijuana or who had someone in their immediate family with such a conviction. The original language and intent narrowly restricted dispensary license opportunities to people in communities most disadvantaged by the enforcement of current cannabis laws.

During the debate in the Senate on Tuesday, Lamont issued a statement threatening to veto the bill with the looser licensing requirements intact, according to industry news source Marijuana Moment. That language was, in turn, amended to put an income cap on licensees shortly before the Senate's vote.

After the bill was approved, Paul Mounds, the governor's chief of staff, issued a statement making it clear the revised amendment didn't cut it:

"The amendment approved by the Connecticut State Senate to adult use cannabis bill this afternoon, simply put, does not meet the goals laid out during negotiations when it comes to equity and ensuring the wrongs of the past are righted. To the contrary, this proposal opens the floodgates for tens of thousand of previously ineligible applicants to enter the adult-use cannabis industry... This is not equity, and Governor Lamont will veto this bill if it reaches his desk in its current form."

The bill heads to the House, where representatives are scheduled to vote upon it Wednesday.

It was the second time senators voted on the legislation. A similar bill passed Jun. 7 by an even narrower margin of 19-17. But instead of cramming the vote into the final hours of the regular session, which adjourned June 9, House leaders decided to convene a special session this week.

Other changes introduced in the new bill include regulations that would prevent certain state employees and officials from applying for marijuana business licenses for a period of two years after they leave office. Other revisions clarify THC and CBD amounts by package and serving size, and direct the lion's share of taxes and fees to a new state cannabis regulatory and investment account.