More than 13 percent of the people in Connecticut used marijuana in 2015, most of them buying it illegally.
Because they bought it illegally, they might “be sold marijuana tainted with harmful contaminants, [be] offered hard drugs, or even physically assaulted.”
The cops enforce “marijuana prohibition” in a “racially disparate manner.”
Meanwhile, our neighbors in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts have legalized recreational marijuana. New Jersey and Rhode Island are “seriously considering” doing the same.
It’s time we do, too.
New Haven State Sen. Martin Looney made those arguments Monday while testifying before the legislature’s Judiciary Committee in favor of a Senate bill to legalize the sale and recreational use of marijuana.
“It is time we take the rational common-sense approach to marijuana, as we did with alcohol: regulating and taxing it,” testified Looney, who’s the president pro tempore of the State Senate.
The hearing did not draw a big crowd of people to testify, suggesting legalization might not have a great chance of passing this year in a short legislative session.
The bill Looney promoted would task the Department of Consumer Protection to come up with ways to encourage “people who are part of communities that have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement” to apply for licenses to sell it. Click here to read a New York Times article on why Oakland, California, is doing just that, while Compton, California, has chosen not to. And click here for a longer previous Independent article on the debate this session over legalization.
Looney also promoted legalization as a job creator: He cited a recent estimate that “the legal cannabis market will create more than a quarter of a million jobs nationally.” It created 18,000-plus full-time jobs and contributed $2.4 billion to the economy in Colorado alone in 2015, he said.
The 2018 Agenda
Bill # | Status | Summary | Sponsors |
---|---|---|---|
HB 5001 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To impose a fee on transactions involving virtual currency. | Pat Dillon |
HB 5031 SB 4 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed Gov. Signed | To allow students to have equal access to institutional financial aid. | Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee |
HB 5082 | In Committee Committee Approved Died on the Floor | To provide state funds to assist hurricane victims from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who are living in Connecticut. | Juan Candelaria |
HB 5126 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To increase funding to boards of education and family resource centers that provide assistance to students and families from Puerto Rico. | Juan Candelaria |
HB 5112 | In Committee Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To permit the retail sale of marijuana and tax such sale to raise revenue for the General Fund and to fund substance abuse treatment, prevention, education and awareness programs. | Juan R. Candelaria, Angel Arce, Josh Elliott, Steven J. Stafstrom, Jeff Currey, Susan M. Johnson, Chris Soto, Patricia A. Dillon, Roland J. Lemar, James M. Albis, Christopher Rosario, Kim Rose, Robyn A. Porter, Edwin Vargas, Matthew Lesser, Gregory Haddad, Joshua Malik Hall, Ezequiel Santiago, Diana S. Urban, Toni E. Walker, Robert Sanchez, Alphonse Paolillo |
SB 1 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To expand the sick leave program to provide earned family and medical leave to certain individuals employed in this state. | Martin M. Looney, Bob Duff, Timothy D. Larson, Steve Cassano, Beth Bye, Terry B. Gerratana, Gary A. Winfield, Ted Kennedy, Catherine A. Osten, Marilyn V. Moore, Edwin A. Gomes, Mae Flexer |
SB 62 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To provide tuition-free community college for Connecticut residents. | Martin M. Looney |
HB 5182 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To require building officials in certain municipalities to establish and assess a fee for the commencement of certain work without a necessary permit. | Planning and Development Committee |
HB 5210 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To (1) mandate insurance coverage of essential health benefits, (2) expand mandated health benefits for women, children and adolescents, and (3) expand mandated contraception benefits. | Insurance and Real Estate Committee |
HB 5084 | In Committee Died on the Floor | To encourage the recycling of nip bottles that otherwise frequently litter urban areas. | Roland J. Lemar and Juan R. Candelaria |
HB 5350 HB 5537 | In Committee Committee Denied Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To create a pilot program for shared solar facilities at municipal airports. The bill also would delete the provision that dictates the length of Tweed Airport’s runway. | Energy and Technology Committee |
HB 5475 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To amend statutory provisions concerning a police officer’s viewing of a recording from body-worn recording equipment under certain circumstances. | Judiciary Committee |
HB 5515 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To permit a zoning commission to regulate the brightness and illumination of advertising signs and billboards. | Judiciary Committee |
HB 5540 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Died on the Floor | To ban guns without serial numbers and regulate those which are sold in a form requiring the purchaser to finish assembly or that are homemade and to permit local authorities to interview immediate family members as part of a determination of an applicant’s suitability. | Judiciary Committee |
HB 5542 | In Committee Committee Approved Sent to the Floor Passed | To ban the sale or transfer, possession, manufacturing or use of bump stocks or other accessories to increase the rate of fire of a firearm. | Judiciary Committee |