Legalizing Pot in Connecticut Fails Vote; Guilford DAY Applauds

GUILFORD, CT - One of the groups that has pushed back hardest against the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state of Connecticut the past few yers has been Guilford Development Assets for Youth (DAY). Well, it seems like the group’s efforts are reaping awards - as the General Law Committee Tuesday defeated a bill crafting a regulatory structure for recreational marijuana by a vote of 11 to 6.

The bill didn’t technically legalize marijuana, but it would have legalized possession of up to an ounce and it would have allowed a person over the age of 21 to cultivate not more than six marijuana plants.

It also set up a licensing scheme for “marijuana lounges and marijuana retailers.”

There are at least four committees that raised bills dealing with the legalization of marijuana. This is the first of the bills to be defeated by a vote of the committee.

Guilford DAY will be fighting against all four bills.

"There is strong opposition to legalization of marijuana in Connecticut," DAY executive committee member Bo Huhn, who is also spokesman for CT Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said at a press conference at the state capitol on the subject earlier this year.

In his submitted testimony on the issue, Huhn, who lives in Guilford, stated, among other things: "Last year a legislator told me - One side says it's harmless, the other side says it damages the brain. The two sides neutralize each other. I don't believe either side.''

Huhn went on: "That attitude is dead wrong. When there is conflict, there will always be at least two stories. It is generally not too difficult to figure which is more truthful. In connection with the legalization issue, there are many conflicts between the pro and con.

"The policy choice has the potential to worsen the curse of drug abuse and addiction in our state," Huhn said.

California began selling recreational marijuana on Jan. 1st in what's seen as a milestone.

California is the sixth state to allow sales of recreational marijuana, and as the nation's most populous state, it's widely seen as a tremendous boost to mainstreaming marijuana.

Other states that allow the sale of recreational marijuana are Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada.

As of July 1st Massachusetts, Connecticut's neighbor, will join the list. And soon to follow will be Maine, though no definite date has yet been set.