Proponents of legal cannabis in Connecticut said there’s a better than average chance a bill will pass in 2021, while opponents said the old barriers still haven’t been removed.
“I’m hoping there isn’t a stumbling block to passing legislation this year,” said Rep. Steven J. Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Judiciary. “I find it fairly frustrating that this appears to be one of those bills where the public is more progressive on it than the legislature appears to be. It’s time to get this done.”
For several years, cannabis has been legal in Massachusetts — Connecticut’s neighbor to the north —while New Jersey, the most recent state on the eastern seaboard to legalize marijuana by ballot initiative, has begun crafting authorizing legislation to change the laws on the books. New York appears ready to follow suit.
Efforts in Connecticut, however, have been slower to get off the ground. In 2019, three separate bills comprising a comprehensive package made it out of committee but never got called for a floor vote. A 2020 bill introduced by Gov. Ned Lamont and supported by legislative leaders received a hearing in the Judiciary Committee; two weeks later, the state shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. [Read More @ The Hartford Courant]
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