I don’t want to wake up in a Connecticut that got surpassed by North Dakota, of all places, in terms of marijuana laws.

With the 25th anniversary of the Sheff v. O’Neill decision coming up in July, it’s time to fulfill the ruling’s true legacy and reform exclusionary zoning in Connecticut.

I read with disappointment Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision to abandon the CDC’s risk-based roll-out of Connecticut’s pending COVID-19 vaccination stockpile.  As a 59-year old woman who enjoys the creature comforts that come with white privilege (including excellent health insurance), I denounce Governor Lamont’s change of course as discriminatory, reckless, and just plain lazy.

Gov. Ned Lamont and the other marionettes for the New Big Tobacco, the marijuana industry, are galloping towards the legalization of high-potency marijuana for our children and adolescents through age 25. There is no debate on the wisdom of poisoning our children and adolescents, only talk of the money the state will earn.

Think of Long Island Sound is priceless in its value as an economic, recreational and environmental asset to Connecticut’s people and wildlife. Some consider the Sound our version of a national park or forest, but it’s really more the public commons where we play, work and traverse. Until recently, no one had a comprehensive guide to show how all the pieces fit together, or how a new element could be brought in with minimal disruption. Enter the Long Island Sound Blue Plan, a kind of specialized encyclopedia of the estuary with numerous maps, plant and animal inventories, habitat descriptions and illustrations of popular sailing routes, fishing areas, cargo lanes and  many other traditional human uses we want to recognize and preserve.

The year 2020 was challenging for most of us and, when people are suffering, they tend to blame their governments – local, state, and federal.  If we’re being honest, however, trust in our governmental, academic, scientific, and civic institutions has been eroding for some time.