Connecticut: legislative committee votes in favor of recreational cannabis bill

After the West Coast, it’s now the East Coast’s turn to consider legalizing cannabis. This year, states in the Northeast will either legalize cannabis (for example, Massachusetts), or give it serious consideration, since New Hampshire was the the last New England state to decriminalize cannabis last year.

In Connecticut, the General Assembly's Budget Allocation Committee a approuvé by a vote of 27 to 24, a bill that would legalize and regulate the sale of cannabis. The bill will now go to the Chamber of Deputies for debate.

The bill aims to coordinate several government agencies to implement a plan to legalize and regulate sales by October 1 of this year. It would also establish new prevention programs targeting problematic use.

According to Senator Paul Formica, who serves on the committee, «This bill deserves to be discussed more broadly to see which specific points will be on the agenda.»

«This is one of those complex issues that touches on economic and social aspects, and with all the countries in the region having already approved legalization and regulation—or currently in the process of doing so—it’s clearly an issue that deserves attention ,» said Joe Aresimowicz, spokesperson for the Assembly, to the Current.

Although the bill is on track, the main challenge lies in the fact that the legislative session ends on May 9. For the bill to be passed by Parliament, it must be debated and approved by both chambers of the Assembly by that date.

It is also unclear whether Connecticut is truly committed to moving toward legalization. A similar bill failed to pass the committee stage last year. That is why, this year, four bills to legalize cannabis have been introduced in four different committees. Last month, the state legislative committee rejected one of these proposals.

Visit latest survey, 63% of the state's residents support the legalization of cannabis.