Supporters hope 2020 is the year Connecticut passes legal marijuana law

A recent poll showed 59% of Connecticut residents favor legalization.

News 12 Staff

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Jan 23, 2020, 10:19 PM

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Updated 1,554 days ago

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Supporters of recreational marijuana legalization in Connecticut believe 2020 may be the year it passes.

State Senate President Martin Looney, a Democrat, said that the “time has come.”

“We know there are very large numbers of Connecticut residents already traveling regularly to Massachusetts to buy this product," said Looney.

The starting point is last year's plan, which calls for an initial 31% sales tax on marijuana. Eventually, it would drop to $50 an ounce for marijuana flowers and $15 for trim.

Gov. Ned Lamont is also working on his own plan. Both proposals will likely allow prior drug offenders to wipe their criminal records clean.

There's also been talk of sending the issue to the voters to decide through an amendment to the state constitution. But that move could push back sales another four years.

A recent poll showed 59% of Connecticut residents favor legalization.

But on this week's "Power and Politics," two newly-elected Republicans, state Rep. Brian Farnen, of Fairfield, and state Rep-elect Harry Arora, of Greenwich, said there are simply too many questions to support pot yet.

“There are also concerns, I believe, with underage usage that would need to be tackled. And you also have the issue of smoking while driving," said Farnen.