Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that he will sign a bill aimed to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.
“I look forward to signing the bill and moving beyond this terrible period of incarceration and injustice,” Lamont tweeted following the bill’s approval in the Connecticut General Assembly.
Here’s my statement on final approval by the Connecticut General Assembly of legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis.
I look forward to signing the bill and moving beyond this terrible period of incarceration and injustice. pic.twitter.com/H4DYBcbe0K
— Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont) June 17, 2021
Possession of recreational cannabis for adults above the age of 21 will be legal starting July 1, while retail sales will not be available in Connecticut until May 2022, according to the Hartford Courant. Connecticut will become the 19th state with legal recreational marijuana.
Rep. Rick Hayes was the only Republican representative who joined the Democrat-majority in securing the bill’s passage Wednesday in the Connecticut House of Representatives. The Connecticut State Senate also approved the bill Thursday and is now on its way to the Governor’s desk.
Lamont also claimed that this bill will address the injustices of “the war on cannabis, at its core a war on black and brown communities,” citing the 50th anniversary of former President Richard Nixon’s declaration of the war on drugs in his official press release. (RELATED: Pot Use May Change the Teenage Brain, MRIs Show)
Democratic Connecticut state Sen. Gary Winfield voiced that this bill will stand out in the nation for its equity provisions, aiming to expedite access and entry to the future weed market in Connecticut for those who were “hurt by the drug war.”