CT And NY To Work Together On Marijuana, Vaping Policies

HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that officials from both states will work together to come up with regional policies regarding recreational marijuana and e-cigarette regulations.

Recreational cannabis issues that will be talked about include taxation, product testing, advertising, roadside testing and social justice and equity considerations among others.

Lamont said the regional policies make sense due to New York and Connecticut’s strong proximity and economic ties.

“To that end, it’s common sense for our states to be aligned in numerous policy areas,” he said. “Governor Cuomo and I have the chance to be leaders together on these issues of public importance, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Connecticut legislators have tried numerous times to legalize recreational marijuana. This past session numerous bills made it out of committee, but the matter died before a full legislative vote.

Lamont focused his attention on the budget, tolling and other issues during the session and didn’t make a strong push for recreational marijuana legalization. Former Gov. Dannel Malloy said he didn’t support recreational marijuana legalization, but earlier in his tenure had pushed for decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana.

Connecticut is set to raise its smoking age to 21 on Oct. 1. New York’s smoking age will also go to 21 in November.

“Policies governing vaping products and recreational marijuana will require regional symmetry because it makes little sense for one state to do something if a neighboring state has a totally different policy – without coordination, you end up incentivizing people to drive over the border to buy a different or cheaper product,” Cuomo said.

Officials from a number of departments will have a summit meeting in October.