Press Reset: CT Marijuana Bill Passes House, Moves Back To Senate

CONNECTICUT — The state House of Representatives passed a bill that would legalize the use of recreational marijuana by adults. The measure passed 76 to 62, with 13 members not casting votes, on Wednesday. Twelve Democrats broke ranks and voted against the bill, as did one Republican who voted in favor.

The bill approved Wednesday was pretty much the one passed by the state Senate on June 7. It's also the one that would have gone before the House last week for final approval, before House leaders decided to call a special session this week to allow the process more time.

But special session protocols called for the Senate to vote again on the proposed legislation, and those lawmakers took that opportunity Tuesday to craft new language. The new bill hit a wall late in the day when Gov. Ned Lamont made it clear the new amendment was a dealbreaker.

The original language and intent of the bill restricts dispensary license opportunities to people in communities most disadvantaged by the enforcement of current cannabis laws.

The new amendment broadly redefined these so-called "social-equity applicants" to include anyone with past arrests for marijuana, or who had someone in their immediate family with such a conviction. In theory, a wealthy entrepreneur living in an affluent neighborhood whose child had a prior conviction for possession of a small amount of marijuana could apply for a license as a social equity candidate and receive the accompanying preferential treatment.

After the revised bill was approved by the Senate Tuesday, Paul Mounds, the governor's chief of staff, issued a statement warning that "Governor Lamont will veto this bill if it reaches his desk in its current form."

The amendment "opens the floodgates for tens of thousands of previously ineligible applicants to enter the adult-use cannabis industry," Mounds said. "This last-minute amendment creates equity in name only by allowing these individuals expedited opportunity to obtain access to the marketplace."

House lawmakers Wednesday removed the contentious amendment, but left in Senate revisions that would prevent officials involved closely with the state's cannabis operations from profiting in the private weed sector shortly after leaving office. With the current bill now approved by the House, it must go before the Senate who will debate and vote upon it for a third time, on Thursday.

The core language of the proposed legislation in either of its forms would make it legal for residents 21 years of age and older to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis on their person and up to five ounces in a locked container in their residence or trunk/glove compartment of their car.

The law would go into effect July 1. Retail sales would begin May, 2022, and you can grow your own plants the following year.

The proposed law also decriminalizes possession of up to five ounces on your person, and eight ounces of cannabis in a locked container, imposing a civil fine in lieu of possible jail time.

If signed, it would also do away with using the odor of cannabis as justification for law enforcement to stop or search motorists on Connecticut roadways.

Residents with convictions for possession, drug paraphernalia, or sale and manufacture of four or fewer ounces or six or fewer plants, would be able to petition to have them expunged. The Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, all convictions from Jan. 1, 2000 through Sept. 15, 2015 for possession of fewer than four ounces will be purged automatically.

Lamont said marijuana sales would bring in around $33.6 million in revenue for the state in fiscal year 2023 and $97 million by fiscal year 2026. Fifteen states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana, including neighboring New York and Massachusetts, and Rhode Island is on the cusp.

If Senate Bill 1201 bill clears its next Senate vote, it will make its way next to Lamont's desk to await his signature. The governor has indicated he will sign it.