Ridgefield Leaders Mull Pot Rules

RIDGEFIELD CT — A key step in determining if legal cannabis users in town will have to go out of town to get their stashes could be taken Wednesday night.

The Ridgefield Board of Selectmen — which meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Ridgefield Town Hall conference room (400 Main St.) — is expected to discuss and, likely, schedule public hearing and town meetings dates for the town's new cannabis ordinance.

At the May 18 selectmen meeting, local leaders met with Ridgefield Town Attorney Dave Grogins on the ordinance, which was drafted by the Cohen & Wolf law firm, which has offices in Bridgeport, Danbury and Westport.

A draft ordinance that would prohibit cannabis retail and cultivation in town and would also include measures regarding its use.

Issues discussed last month include whether smoking pot was the same as legally smoking cigarettes in public areas and how much employers could control the use of cannabis by its workers.

For example, the Town of Ridgefield "has a strict no drug use policy for employees at
all times," according to the May 18 selectmen meeting minutes.

The board of selectmen will review the ordinance in more detail and discuss it again.

According to the meeting minutes, an ordinance regarding cannabis locally trumps any state or federal laws relative to the matter.

Last September, shortly after cannabis' cultivation and sales were legalized in Connecticut, the town's planning and zoning commission enacted a one-year moratorium on any cannabis-related development in town to give the municipality more time to determine its cannabis future.

For information about cannabis' legalization in Connecticut, visit this link.

For the minutes of the May 18 Ridgefield Board of Selectmen meeting, visit this link.

For the agenda of the June 15 Ridgefield Board of Selectmen meeting, visit this link.