Pro-cannabis group rallies at Capitol building against lawmakers' bid to ban gifting of marijuana

A group known as the CT CannaWarriors held a rally outside of the Capitol building Wednesday to call for more rights for cannabis license applicants and license holders.

News 12 Staff

Apr 20, 2022, 9:24 PM

Updated 904 days ago

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Lawmakers are working on a bill that would ban the gifting or trading of marijuana - a loophole that was left open when recreational marijuana was legalized.
A group known as the CT CannaWarriors held a rally outside of the Capitol building Wednesday to call for more rights for cannabis license applicants and license holders.
They want lawmakers to kill the bill against gifting, saying the community relies on group gatherings that would be impacted if this bill is passed.
"You know, we've been left out of that so having the ability to come together is so much deeper than just trading or sharing or selling cannabis or gifting cannabis to one another. It's really a place for us to connect, support, educate," said Christina Capitan from CT CannaWarriors.
The lawmaker who co-sponsored the bill says it is not about one person gifting another with marijuana - it is about large gatherings and marijuana being distributed.
"We try to set this up in a way that is equitable and that is going to impact communities positively that have been negatively impacted on the war of drugs, so when you have these situations where they're selling outside the parameters - that's a problem," said state Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, who co-sponsored the bill.
The group is also calling for the release of all nonviolent cannabis offenders, as well as increased outreach.
"Should these demands not be addressed in an attempt to remedy the issues that Connecticut cannabis consumers are facing, we are prepared to begin the rollout of a full-scale boycott of all multistate operators in Connecticut without delay," said Capitan.
Lawmakers are currently still working on cleaning up and tweaking the bill but hope to get the work done soon.