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Final details in campaign to legalize marijuana in CT hashed out behind closed doors FacebookTwitterEmail 2of9 3of9 5of9 6of9 8of9 9of9 HARTFORD — With seven weeks left in the legislative session, the campaign to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and retail sales is in a new, urgent phase, as the potential final details are negotiated among Democratic leaders and the governor’s office, behind closed doors. While Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal was recently approved - with some opposition from fellow Democrats - in the law-writing Judiciary Committee, some urban lawmakers and advo...

Whether Connecticut joins New York and Massachusetts in legalizing recreational marijuana may turn on the ability of two prominent members of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican caucus to solve a puzzle of politics and numbers.

Someone has to grow the marijuana. Someone has to harvest it. Someone has to package it. And, someone has to distribute it. There is money to be made — and jobs to be created — around marketing, regulation, delivery and research, with offshoots that have no direct connection to the product at all.

While marijuana is legal for medical use in the commonwealth, it is still illegal federally, where it’s listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, alongside drugs like heroin and LSD. That inconsistency has created a number of challenges - and housing rights for medical marijuana patients is among them.

Will recreational marijuana be legalized in Connecticut this year? Michael Hamad, Hartford Courant HARTFORD, Conn. — Proponents of legal cannabis in Connecticut said there’s a better than average chance a bill will pass in 2021, while opponents said the old barriers still haven’t been removed. “I’m hoping there isn’t a stumbling block to passing legislation this year,” said state Rep. Steven J. Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Judiciary. “I find it fairly frustrating that this appears to be one of those bills where the public is more...