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NEWTOWN – Leaders here aren’t the only ones in their rush to anticipate Connecticut’s marijuana legalization law that goes into effect Thursday, but Newtown will be the first municipality in the region to ban cannabis establishments from the public.
Newtown’s public hearing on Thursday to ban all cannabis establishments, including medical dispensaries, will give residents their first chance to weigh in on marijuana legalization since June 22, when Gov. Ned Lamont promulgated “a model National Regulatory Authority for Cannabis for Adult Use â€.
Executives at Ridgefield and Danbury have announced their own intentions to prevent recreational marijuana businesses from taking up main Street until planners have a chance to decide how they want to control it.
Newtown’s top elected official said this week he understands there will be a debate. The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled an in-person public hearing for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Newtown Civic Center, 3 Primrose St.
“It didn’t go to P&Z with fire and sulfur,†said First Selectman Dan Rosenthal. “I see the public interest in both directions.”
Rosenthal is referring to a state law that went into effect Thursday that allows people 21 and over to have 1.5 ounces of marijuana and up to five extra ounces of marijuana with them in a safe place, such as their home. home or their car. The law allows patients in Connecticut’s medical marijuana program to have three mature marijuana plants and three smaller plants in their homes – a provision that will expand to the general adult public in 2023.
A key part of the law is the retail component, which is not expected to come into effect until the end of next year. In addition to providing a new source of revenue for municipalities and providing controls to prevent child abuse, the law aims to “begin the work necessary to repair the damage caused by decades of failed cannabis criminalization policies.”
The ban proposed by Newtown would not affect individuals, but only cannabis companies looking to do business in the city, such as growers, producers, retailers and dispensaries.
Rosenthal said he believes the Lamont administration has done its homework to make Connecticut law a model that learns from mistakes made by other states, but Newtown can benefit while waiting to see how the industry recreational marijuana is growing in cities and towns.
“It doesn’t have to be a permanent action – we can always re-register later,†Rosenthal said of Newtown’s proposed ban. “Once you have a (cannabis) establishment here and there are unintended consequences, there is nothing you can do about it.”
Danbury, which has previously approved the move of a Bethel-based medical marijuana dispensary to a former bank on the west side of town, is planning a public hearing on July 27 to consider a moratorium on cannabis establishments.
Prospect has already adopted a six-month moratorium on all new cannabis establishments.
In Ridgefield, which already bans medical marijuana dispensaries, First Selectman Rudy Marconi proposed to ban retail cannabis in part because of the “(mixed) message that selling weed in town would send to young people.” .
Likewise, the Newtown ban would not only block recreational cannabis establishments, but also nullify the zoning that allows medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
By narrow voting margins in 2018, planners and zoners in Newtown approved a medical marijuana dispensary that never saw the light of day because the vendor was denied a license by the State Department consumer protection.
Rosenthal said Newtown had nothing to lose by being careful.
“This is a whole new bill,†Rosenthal said. “We just want to understand the dynamics and digest the moving parts. “
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