During his Wednesday state address, the Connecticut Governor (Ned Lamont) asserted that he’s making efforts to ensure marijuana is legalized in the next session.
A year ago, Ned and other governors such as New York Governor Cuomo Andrew, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf Tom, Rhode Island Governor Raimondo Gina, and New Jersey Governor Murphy Phil launched a joint multi-state approach toward authorization. After that,
New Jersey decriminalized cannabis through a voter-passed ballot measure during November.
This week, New York’s governor unveiled a plan to set up a Cannabis Management Office- a cue that he would feature authorization in his Executive Budget. During 2019 and 2020, federal legislators rejected the governor’s effort to accent the policy changes through the budget.
In August 2020, Wolf pushed the legislature to decriminalize marijuana for recreational purposes, citing that the market is ready to bridge Pennsylvania’s budget deficit.
According to a New York Times report, Raimondo might not be part of the joint push for legalization since the President-elect Biden Joe appointed her as the commerce secretary on Thursday. Raimondo had featured legalization proceeds in her Executive Budget and backed decriminalization efforts.
Lamont launched an extensive authorization reform in 2020, which entailed a 1.5-ounce marijuana threshold and a 5-gram limit for concentrates. The program will determine THC caps, restrict the addition of Vitamin E acetate in vape commodities, set up an equity committee of nine members and a social equity authorization system, and permit folks with non-violent drug offenses to participate in the industry.
Based on a Hartford Courant study’s outline, an analysis conducted by the Connecticut University in 2020 indicated direct federal returns from marijuana sales within the state would be between $784M and $952M in five years. The author of the study, Professor Carstensen Fred, estimated that the industry would create between 10,424 and 17,462 jobs within five years.
