EDITORIAL: Dawn of legal Conn. cannabis remarkably unremarkable

Jul. 6—After all the debate, the angst and the lobbying, the end July 1 of the prohibition against the recreational use of cannabis in Connecticut was rather anticlimactic.

Perhaps this was the case because the expectation of legalization had become not a matter of if, but when.

Maybe it was due to the fact legalization arrived in stages.

In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational use.

In 2011, Connecticut decriminalized possession and a year later legalized medicinal use.

With the legislature's approval, and Gov. Ned Lamont's signature, Connecticut became the 19th state to fully legalize cannabis, following the fellow New England states of Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts.

This is the simplest stage. Those partakers who stay within the rules are fully legal. You have to be age 21 and you can't be carrying more than 1.5 ounces (up to 5 ounces as long as the stuff is locked up at home, or in your vehicle's glovebox or trunk if you're in transit.)

To buy it legally will require a road trip to Massachusetts or other state with retail sales.

Growing a few plants becomes legal in July 2023, unless you're a medical marijuana patient, in which case you can grow your own starting Oct. 1.

Enforcement of marijuana laws had become a lower priority since decriminalization. Based on the track record of other states that legalized, a black market will persist and eradicating it will not be a priority for police and prosecutors. Some economists, however, predict in time the legal market will come to dominate, much as moonshiners largely faded away in the years following the end of alcohol prohibition in 1933.

The bigger challenge will come as Connecticut tries to stand up a cultivation system and retail market, with the associated licensing fees, regulations and efforts to assure "equity," meaning that communities hit hardest by the war on drugs get a chance to benefit from the economic boost of legalization.

How well it works won't be clear until operations begin; expect adjustments.

In the meantime, the best news will be if things continue rather uneventfully as most cannabis users heed the words of a past president: "I trust in the good sense of the... people that they will not bring upon themselves the curse of excessive use."

The president was Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was referencing the end of alcohol prohibition.

The Day editorial board meets regularly with political, business and community leaders and convenes weekly to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Tim Dwyer, Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere, Managing Editor Izaskun E. Larrañeta, staff writer Erica Moser and retired deputy managing editor Lisa McGinley. However, only the publisher and editorial page editor are responsible for developing the editorial opinions. The board operates independently from the Day newsroom.