Connecticut may have become the 19th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but some Ridgefield officials are looking to prevent weed-related retail shops, production facilities and dispensaries from coming to town.
Under the law, those aged 21 and older can have up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis and possess up to five ounces in a locked container at home or in a car beginning July 1. But recreational sales are not predicted to start until late 2022.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he will “personally” be asking the town’s planning and zoning commission to “further the prohibition of [marijuana] retail sales.”
“Personally, I would not want to have a retail establishment in Ridgefield,” he said.
While Marconi said he understands cannabis has been a positive medicinal experience for some, he thinks having a regional facility in nearby Bethel would be enough to service the area.
Still, his issues with the law run deeper.
“We should have learned our lesson with alcohol,” he said, emphasizing addiction has become a widespread problem.
Several years back the town’s planning and zoning commission instituted a rule that banned marijuana medical dispensaries and production facilities from opening in Ridgefield — a rule that Marconi said he, the police chief and the town’s social services director all recommended.
But now that pot can be used recreationally, the commission will have to review the rules.
Planning and Zoning Director Richard Baldelli said the department is re-examining how the state law affects local zoning rules, including Ridgefield’s medical dispensary ban.
“We haven’t gone through it enough to get to the finer details of all that,” he said.
Marconi said he was also “disappointed” to find that the state legislature and Gov. Ned Lamont did not allocate funds for addiction rehabilitation under the law’s umbrella.
“It’s an issue in this state we need to get more serious about,” he said. “And this was a golden opportunity to address it and it was ignored because of greed, greed for money and greed for taxes.”
And since municipalities are employers operating under federal law — which currently lists marijuana as an illegal drug — they have raised questions, specifically surrounding municipalities’ ability to continue considering cannabis use as grounds for termination, according to Marconi.
“Our human resource director is researching it. We have highlighted those sections of the bill and are sending them to our labor attorney to draft a new policy to address it,” Marconi explained.
Ultimately, the decision of whether cannabis enterprises will be allowed is up to the commission. However, one of the law’s provisions states that if 10 percent of people vote to permit cannabis sales in town, the municipality would have to hold a referendum vote.
Baldelli said he anticipates they will discuss the matter at their July 27 meeting.
