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June 9, 2023

Pending Lamont signature, CT poised to establish cannabis ombudsman

STEPHEN BUSEMEYER / CT MIRROR The state Senate on the first day of the 2023 legislative session.

The state’s new 171-page cannabis regulation proposal, which includes changes to how Connecticut’s adult-use marijuana market operates, now awaits a signature from Gov. Ned Lamont after passing the state Senate this week and the House of Representatives in May.

H.B. 6699 passed the state Senate in a 32-4 vote late Monday night, a month after the state House of Representatives passed the measure 148-1 on May 9. Perhaps most notably, the bill establishes an Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman, a new position some cannabis industry advocates have been supporting throughout the legislative session.

According to the bill, the cannabis ombudsman would represent the interests of qualifying medical marijuana patients and their caregivers, and identify, investigate and resolve complaints made by them.

Medical cannabis users and advocates have supported the creation of the office as a means of essentially making sure medical users aren’t left behind as the state’s recreational industry continues to grow. Since recreational sales launched Jan. 10, some medical patients have expressed concern that their medicine of choice — whether a particular cannabis strain or specific product — could be harder to find as the state’s growers shift focus to supplying the adult-use industry.

Once signed into law, the state Office of the Healthcare Advocate will have until October 1, to designate an appointee for the post.

Also included in the bill are: new definitions of a “edible cannabis product” and “bona fide labor organization,”; a transfer of certain duties related to labor peace agreements to the state’s Labor Department; certain modifications to labeling and packaging requirements; and changes to how delivery service companies and product packagers operate.

Notably absent from the bill, though, is anything related to allowing the state’s hemp farmers to enter the state’s adult-use industry. Hemp farmers have been advocating for a pathway to exchange their hemp licenses for cannabis licenses — since the method to grow the plant is the same — but the state legislature didn’t move forward any bills allowing that during the session.

Also absent from the bill is language that would establish off-site event permits for cannabis retailers to sell their products outside of their storefront facilities, something that was included in earlier drafts.

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