General Assembly to hold public hearing on regulating legal marijuana for adults

February 15, 2018

State Rep. Mike D’Agostino, D-Hamden, State Rep. Melissa Ziobron, R-East Haddam, and members of the legislature’s General Law Committee voted Thursday to hold a public hearing on draft language that would permit and regulate marijuana for adult use in Connecticut.

“Thursday’s vote is the first step toward crafting a regulatory framework for how Connecticut would permit and oversee the growing, use and sale of cannabis for adults 21 and over, should the state choose to make that legal. As more neighboring states in New England move forward with legalizing cannabis use by adults, it is crucial that we have an open and transparent conversation regarding how we would do the same in Connecticut. In many ways, answering the question of how we would oversee and permit adult use is a necessary precursor to deciding whether we will do so, as I think we should,” said D’Agostino, House chairman of the General Law Committee.

“It’s imperative that we have robust conversations about cannabis, as more states around us consider legalization. Let’s examine all the potential regulatory models and get the feedback from our communities we represent,” said Ziobron.

Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington all permit the sale of marijuana for adult use. In January, Vermont’s governor signed into law a bill that will allow the state to authorize the adult use of marijuana. The law is slated to take effect July 1.

A proposal to regulate the use of cannabis for adults in Connecticut comes nearly six years after the state permitted medical marijuana. Similar to medical marijuana, legal, adult use of marijuana will be regulated by the state Department of Consumer Protection.

Following Thursday’s vote, the Legislative Commissioner’s Office will begin to draft language for the bill and the General Law Committee will hold a public hearing. The dates and times for all upcoming meetings will be available at www.cga.ct.gov/gl.