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01/16/2017 11:00 PMElection Day resulted in significant changes at the state and federal level, but for Connecticut lawmakers and residents, it also meant the possible return of a contested and familiar issue: marijuana. As some legislators move toward legalization, a local group wants to ensure they know exactly what’s at stake.
With Massachusetts voting to legalize recreational marijuana, speculation quickly took hold that Connecticut legislators would engage the same legalization debate, and it seems they will. With the 2017 legislative session open on Jan 4, bills have been filed by Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate that would legalize recreational use of marijuana in the state.
Currently, the state has laws permitting the use of marijuana sold by licensed dispensaries to qualifying patients with specific medical conditions.
With the debate just warming up at the state level, opponents are already making their voices heard on the shoreline. Former state senator Ed Meyer and Guilford resident Bo Huhn are working to educate and organize shoreline residents to defeat the legalization of marijuana, starting with a community forum.
The community forum is Wednesday, Jan. 25 and will include a panel of public health experts, community members, and politicians including state representatives Sean Scanlon (D-98) and Vincent Candelora (R-86) and State Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-12). In light of what Meyer calls a “national revolution” in the trend to legalize marijuana, he said he wants to get the conversation started with residents about the dangers of this drug, particularly for young people.
“The legalization in Connecticut is really on us right now,” he said. “Last year a state representative in New Haven introduced a bill. This year the Senate leader, Martin Looney (D), has introduced a legalization bill so we think it will be taken up this year and that is why we are organizing to try to educate people about the real dangers—scientifically—of marijuana.”
Both Meyer, a former federal prosecutor, and Huhn, a retired lawyer, have taken a look at the legal side of legalization, but they say this forum will focus on the science of marijuana and common misconceptions surrounding its use.
“The principal speaker will be a resident of Guilford, Professor Deepak Cyril D’Souza MD of Yale Medical School,” said Huhn. “Most of us are not aware of the considerable marijuana research showing the neurological risks for adolescents.”
While Meyer and Huhn say the science shows the harmful effects of marijuana—everything from IQ loss to its potential as a gateway drug—there is a growing concern that the state will push forward with legalization for the sales tax revenue. Meyer said it’s estimated the state could gain $60- to $65 million in sales tax off the sale of marijuana in the first year alone—a significant figure for a state facing a projected $1.4 billion budget shortfall in fiscal year 2017/2018.
“We are a state that is broke right now. We have got annual budget deficits with legislators and the governor very frustrated and looking for new sources of revenue,” he said. “Without looking at the hazards of marijuana, they are looking at the money that will come in. The hazard and safety issue is bigger than the money issue and if we lose that fight, then marijuana will be legal here.”
Meyer pointed out that unlike states like Massachusetts, Connecticut does not have single-issue ballot questions, leaving the power to legalize on the floor of the General Assembly. Meyer said that while he is against legalization, his opinion is not shared by all of his former colleagues still in Hartford.
“I have gotten the reaction of ‘Why not? Let it go, people should have a choice,’” he said. “I think it is going to be a tough ride for us.”
Huhn, who is involved with Guilford DAY, said he has gotten a different reaction, but said there still isn’t enough information about this debate out among the public.
“There are definitely people that believe medical marijuana is a good thing and they think I am talking about that, but once I say ‘That ship has sailed, I am talking about full-blown legalization,’ the reaction I usual get is ‘... they are not going to do that are they?’” he said.
For now, Meyer said they are trying to get the conversation started. The community forum on the potential legalization of marijuana and the impact on youth is Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Guilford Community Center, 32 Church Street.