Hamden State Legislator Pushes For Marijuana Legalization

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

HAMDEN, CT — One of the hottest debates at the state Capitol this year is whether or not Connecticut should legalize recreational marijuana as eight other states, including Massachusetts and Maine have.

One of those sponsoring a bill to legalize pot is newly elected Hamden legislator Josh Elliott, who gave an impassioned plea for legalization at a press conference at the Legislative Office building on Tuesday.

Below is Elliott’s speech:

My name is Josh Elliott. I have been a professional poker player, poker coach, real estate broker and finance director for a political campaign. I graduated from law school in 2013 and became a non-practicing attorney. I opened my own business called the Common Bond Market in Shelton in 2014 – we’re sneaking up on 3 years now, growing rapidly year after year with the same core staff we started with. And last year I ran for state rep, knocking doors and making telephone calls every day for months on end for the opportunity to represent Hamden in the 88th District.

From beginning to end I have intermittently and casually smoked marijuana.

It is incredible how that sentence can brand someone as a slacker or loser – given how over half of the population has tried cannabis at some point in their life. I don’t get high and go to work. I don’t get high and drive. I get high when I come home, and I feel like watching some TV. I do it socially with friends. It’s not an escape for me. I do it the same way someone might have a drink after work, or take a hike in the woods. It’s reflective for me.

If I were to start spouting off statistics about the safety of marijuana the people who agree with me would continue to agree with me, and those who disagree would continue to disagree. That’s why I’m not going to spend any time talking about statistics. Rather, I’m going to talk about the availability and confirmation bias.

The availability bias is, according to Wikipedia, “a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a given person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision.” When I think of marijuana I think of the movies I’ve enjoyed a bit more when stoned – the flavors of food that pop – the interesting conversations I have had with friends.

When someone who believes that marijuana is inherently bad, or “evil” as a colleague of mine noted just a few weeks ago – they think of children who smoke and flunk out of school – old stoners from the ‘70s who spent more time in the streets protesting than working a job – or liberals who are ruining our country. Opponents of legalization bring these images to their mind every time the topic comes up – and it brings denigration and dishonest discussion.

Yes, marijuana can be an unhealthy escape hatch for some people. But so can alcohol, sugar, sex, or sleep. Nearly anything can be abused if used to excess. To try marijuana is to understand that there are simply worse dangers in the world. And when the government brandishes the law, punishing people who want to smoke, it lessens itself. When someone smokes for the first time and discovers it’s not the evil that people say it is – the door opens to the notion of “what else is the government being dishonest about? What other drugs are as innocuous as marijuana?

Confirmation bias is, again according to Wikipedia, the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories. When I think of smoking cannabis with friends, I’m reminded about the relative harmlessness of the drug based off repeat experience. When an abolitionist hears a story about someone withering away their life to marijuana, they are reminded about the social ills that marijuana creates. Then, through anecdotal evidence, they attribute causality when there isn’t even correlation.

But…what if we are both right?

I’m willing to accept that there are people who abuse this drug. Just as there are people who abuse coffee, painkillers, and fatty foods. I wonder if opponents of legalizing marijuana are willing to accept that there are people who don’t abuse the drug. There’s room for us to meet in the middle – and I’m willing to do that.

It’s time for our state to lead by example. We can be better. We can be honest. It’s time to stop using marijuana as a tool to marginalize people. If there’s abuse, let’s address the underlying problem. But when there isn’t, let’s tax it, and treat the sale and use like any other industry. It’s time for us to be leaders.

Thank you.

Photo by Jack Kramer

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