Gov. Lamont is using his first budget to start a conversation, rather than drive specific solutions, about a host of key issues ranging from tolls and sports betting to recreational marijuana and labor cost-savings.
Marijuana
Connecticut legalized adult-use cannabis in 2021, but it’s still unclear when recreational weed will be available to buy without a prescription.
Posted inMoney
CT’s window to rake in big bucks from pot could be closing
Connecticut could take in as much as $160 million a year by legalizing pot, but if it beats neighboring states to the finish line it might be able to double that revenue.
Posted inJustice
CT pot legalization could include expungement of criminal records
Senate Democrats unveiled a slew of proposals Wednesday that would not only legalize and tax the sale of marijuana for recreational use, but also expunge certain criminal records involving marijuana-related offenses.
Posted inHealth
Lawmakers consider bill to permit marijuana use for opioid withdrawal
Supporters say medical marijuana can ease the symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
Posted inPolitics
Marijuana legalization debate gets heated at Capitol press conference
Bo Huhn, the spokesman for the Connecticut chapter of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, speaks at a press conference Wednesday. The debate over whether Connecticut should legalize recreational marijuana got heated at the State Capitol Wednesday as advocates opposing legalization held a press conference that was repeatedly interrupted by heckling pot supporters. “I believe we really do […]
Posted inHealth
Number of CT high schoolers vaping doubled over two years
The number of Connecticut high school students who used vaping products, such as e-cigarettes, doubled from 2015 to 2017, according to a new study released by the state Department of Public Health.
Posted inHealth
Eight new conditions approved for CT’s medical marijuana program
The legislature’s Regulations Review Committee approved the addition of eight new conditions to the medical marijuana program on Tuesday. The eight apply to all adults, but only two of those conditions are allowed for those under 18.
Posted inMoney
Report: ‘Sin’ taxes pose fiscal — not health — risks for states
Connecticut and most other states need to be cautious about their rapidly increasing reliance on cigarette and other volatile “sin” taxes, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts.
Posted inMoney
Speaker: Gaming issues, pot legalization likely to wait until 2019
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz was skeptical Tuesday that the legislature would resolve any major gaming issues or the legalization of marijuana this spring.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Advocates for marijuana sales point to big economic boost
Advocates for legalizing recreational marijuana use in Connecticut — and taxing its sales — are hoping a holistic, economic argument will win the day this year. Supporters say the potential to bolster the state’s tourism industry, create jobs, and even encourage young professionals to locate here, should attract votes for an issue that couldn’t get a vote in the House or Senate in 2017.
Posted inHealth, Justice, Money, Politics
Pot legalization is latest issue debated, then tabled
The House of Representatives debated the legalization of recreational marijuana use for 90 minutes late Tuesday afternoon, only to table it afterward.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Pot legalization measure bogs down in partisan feud
The legislature provided the latest example from a dysfunctional session Monday as a bipartisan effort to legalize recreational marijuana broke down minutes before its public announcement.
Posted inMoney
Democrats will push legalizing pot as part of budget fix
Senate and House Democrats will recommend the legalization, licensing and taxation of marijuana sales in Connecticut to help balance the next state budget, sources close to the caucuses told The Mirror.
Posted inPolitics
If you stay long enough, the General Assembly will hear you
Bill MacDonald got right to it. Incurable cancer can do that, give a man a heightened sense of time, and MacDonald had just waited five hours for the chance to address the legislature’s Judiciary Committee in Room 2C. He’d get exactly three minutes, the standard allotted to witnesses as public hearings.
Posted inJustice, Money
Big pot of money waiting if CT legalizes marijuana, analysts say
Connecticut could bring in $45.4 million to $104.6 million a year in revenue if the legislature legalizes marijuana in the same way Massachusetts or Colorado have, Connecticut’s nonpartisan fiscal experts say.