Green Thumb Industries Inc (GTBIF)

[FUNMAN]

GTI has CT stores / It’s time to legalize pot

By Blaize Levitan

https://digitaledition.courant.com/html5/desktop/production/default.aspx?pubid=e1bdb9a0-d9e0-4569-842b-54331efd8091

In July, the Connecticut General Assembly convened a special session to hold long overdue conversations on police reform and expanded access to absentee ballots. I applaud them for their efforts; passing meaningful reform is not easy. However, the Nutmeg state missed a prime opportunity to discuss meaningful and necessary drug policy reform.

While it is understandable that COVID-19 has caused a delay in the marijuana legislation that Gov. Ned Lamont proposed at the start of this year, we cannot allow another full year of complete inaction to pass.

The legalization of recreational marijuana is a policy that Nutmeggers broadly support. Roughly 65 percent of voters favor legalizing marijuana in Connecticut, according to a January 2020 poll from the research firm GQR. This support is nothing new. In 2015, a Quinnipiac Poll found that 63 percent of Connecticut voters favored allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Nationally, two-thirds favor legal marijuana, according to Gallup.

The absurdity of inaction is glaring. In his State of the State address, Gov. Lamont aptly asked, “Do you realize that what you can buy legally in Massachusetts — right across the border — could land you in prison here in Connecticut for up to a year? We just marked the 100th anniversary of prohibition. How did that work out?”

But the cause for marijuana legalization is about more than popular support. Black and brown communities in Connecticut have suffered disproportionately from draconian and unequal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws. Through the legalization and regulation of marijuana, Connecticut has both the opportunity and the obligation to not only end this racist policy but also help reverse its disastrous legacy. It is possible to create a marketplace that ensures the benefits reaped from Connecticut’s legal and regulated marijuana market are directly shared with the communities most harmed by the war on drugs.

The ACLU’s research report “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform” provides evidence-based arguments for why we must immediately end marijuana prohibition, as well as recommendations for governments to ensure legalization efforts center racial justice.

Legalization offers Connecticut critical economic benefits, including a new source of revenue, cost savings from reduced enforcement, job creation, and the opportunity to safely lead innovation at the infancy of the market. Accurate projection of tax revenues is highly dependent upon the regulative framework created by the state. However, studies released by pro-legalization groups like the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marijuana project approximately $180 million in annual tax revenue. Illinois collected almost $52.8 million in tax revenue during the first six months of recreational marijuana sales, according to the Chicago Tribune. Connecticut has collected over $350 million in cigarette and tobacco taxes each year for the past three fiscal years.

The legalization of marijuana is a complex change in policy that requires a multiyear phased approach, but given its significant social and economic benefits, Connecticut should start now and establish that framework this year. At the start of the 2020 legislative session, Gov. Lamont’s administration released a legislative proposal to do just that.

We can also end prohibition to allow possession from Massachusetts within Connecticut while the regulative structure is created.

Lamont should either reconvene the legislature for a special session focused on drug reform or, at the least, appoint a bipartisan advisory committee to start the work in advance of the 2021 session. There is also an election this November, and it is incumbent upon all voters to elect legislators who reflect the will of the people. The land of steady habits is ready to end the disastrous prohibition of marijuana. 2020 should be the year that we start to make it happen.

Blaize Levitan was raised in Ellington and has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Connecticut. He is also an experienced government administrator and writes about public policy and government.