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As of today, minor possession of marijuana in the state of Connecticut has been decriminalized. Yesterday Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed into law SB 1014, which went in effect today. The new law reduces the penalty for possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to only a non-criminal infraction.
Starting today, getting caught with a small amount of marijuana in Connecticut will result only in a $150 fine for first offenses, a fine ranging between $200-$500 for subsequent violations, and drug education after a third offense.
According to the state’s Office of Fiscal Analysis the law should save the state roughly $885,000 a year and generate just over $600,000 in new revenue for the state’s general fund.
This piece of marijuana reform wouldn’t have passed without the direct advocacy of Gov. Malloy. The law only barely cleared the State Senate with Malloy’s Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman forced to cast the tie breaking vote in favor of the legislation.
10 Comments
yay!
does this mean doj is gonna be going after connecticut too?
The feds have sent out orders they don’t care, we have to fill up those corp prison and dopers will work just fine. Yep never ending wars on Main Street.
I feel I’ve touched a the third rail here Jane, how sad
What does this mean for people convicted and incarcerated now?
Good news. Sad that it was such a squeaker however. How can people be so stupid? To me it’s like gay marriage. Why do people get to vote about whether I smoke pot? So it’s a game of inches and years, just to do what’s rational and humane.
So here is a shout out to everyone who opposes legal pot and gay marriage. FUCK YOU!
It may be a stupid question, but how is pot ‘decriminalized’ if you must pay a fine for a small amount? Then a larger fine next time? I obviously don’t get what ‘criminal’ means.
Looks like it went from a “criminal misdemeanor to only a non-criminal infraction”. However, you are right, that is not exactly “decriminalized”. Just a easing on possesion of minor amounts. Until pot is treated like alcohol (for DUI), it is still a problem.
Exactly Wendy I was thinking the same thing.
Tough luck.
Declaring it a non-criminal infraction places getting caught with pot in the the same league as a traffic ticket as opposed to breaking in to someone’s car and stealing all their shit. One big plus is that now a pot bust won’t disqualify a person from employment, government service, etc.
Decriminalization isn’t legalization, it is more of a harm-reduction policy moving in the right direction. It mitigates (though doesn’t eliminate) negative impact on citizens and reduces the negative results the policy has on public revenue. Obviously, if the state just taxed sales, far more revenue would be generated than this system of only taxing those who get caught holding a sack (those people in turn will pay an absurdly high tax – but only on a single bag of weed).
In addition to the clear improvement in policy, I think adopting this approach will place the debate on a more solid footing for Connecticut to move on to having those types of rational impact-based policy discussions in the future. Definite win.
Just wondering why “possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana” is still showing in police logs for arrests covering Friday, July 1, 2011 – after the new law is supposed to have taken effect?
See this police log from the new london day:
http://www.theday.com/article/20110703/NWS03/307039866/-1/NWS02