Candidates Blunt On Cannabiz Letdowns

by Laura Glesby

How should Connecticut crack down on illicit cannabis sales in smoke shops, diminish secondhand smoke in public, and avoid repeating mistakes made with the alcohol and tobacco markets?

State Rep. Pat Dillon and challengers Eli Sabin and Justin Farmer wrestled with those questions and suggested potential solutions at a debate at Coogan Pavilion on Tuesday night.

The three candidates, all Democrats, are running to represent the 92nd General Assembly District, which covers Westville, Edgewood, West River, and parts of the Hill, Dwight, Amity, and a sliver of Beaver Hills. They are on the ballot for the Aug. 11 primary election; early voting for that election begins on Monday, Aug. 3.

At the debate, moderator (and New Haven Independent editor) Tom Breen asked the three candidates about their thoughts on adult-use cannabis, which Connecticut legalized in 2021.

The state established a stringent regulatory system as legalization rolled out. The system included a capped number of licenses for businesses at every part of the supply chain, with a specific designation for “equity joint ventures” who have lived in an area disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.

The rollout has prompted debates about how the state should balance regulation with business empowerment, and how it should reckon with the war on drugs’ disproportionate criminalization of Black Americans.

Meanwhile, New Haven has undertaken a concerted effort to crack down on unauthorized cannabis sales in tobacco shops. In recent years, police have caught numerous local smoke shops selling cannabis without a license, including products that are substantially more potent than the legal limit in Connecticut.

“What changes do you think need to be made, if any, to cannabis laws?” Breen asked the candidates.

All three responded that they support the legalization of recreational, adult-use cannabis. But they each proposed different ways to approach cannabis as a matter of public health, and not only a matter of economics.

“Yeah, it’s a racket, right?” Farmer said.

He criticized the quality of some legalized cannabis products. “Half the time it’s moldy, and we have people having respiratory infections,” he said. He lambasted the current system as one that maintains inequity. “If I need a million dollars to open up a cannabis dispensary for medical marijuana… when most of the people who own these businesses are conservative police officers, or politicians that lie to our face and locked up our family members — yeah, we need a new framework,” he said.

Farmer also proposed that state legislators should create designated smoking lounges.

“It gets people off the corners, right?” he said. “We can have security to actually control the environment. And then our kids aren’t seeing the fools.”

“As a person who does not drink, smoke, do drugs, I’m not here to judge people,” Farmer said.

Sabin focused more on enforcing regulations against unlicensed cannabis sellers, an issue he worked on while on the Board of Alders.

“I absolutely support decriminalization and legalization,” said Sabin. “I think, though, that as I’ve been knocking on doors across our district and talking to a lot of folks, especially in Westville, there’s so much frustration about the proliferation of the vape shops and smoke shops.”

He argued that “we should have a no tolerance policy of smoke shops that are selling illegal cannabis products. They should not be open anymore… They should be shut down immediately.”

He also called for more regulation to “make sure that we are trying to get kids, especially, away from these products and keeping them away from from anybody who is vulnerable to their use.”

“I voted to decriminalize because I believed the law was applied unequally, depending on what zip code you lived in. And I still do,” said Dillon. “But having said that, I’m afraid we’re going down a road where we’re treating it [cannabis] like we did with alcohol.”

She argued that “alcohol and tobacco are regulated by the Treasury Department, not by the FDA, because they were seen as a revenue item, and nobody was looking at the health effects.” She expressed concern that a parallel trend could be happening in Connecticut. “We can’t grow on addiction,” she said.

Dillon said, “We’ve got to have an economic model that provides jobs for young people.”

She also alluded to a long-time effort of hers to ban often-littered “nips” (miniature, single-serving liquor bottles): “It’s nips and vapes all over,” she said.

Other Quick Takes

Transportation

Breen asked the candidates about their approaches to public transportation, including whether they support plans to implement a Bus Rapid Transit system in New Haven and whether initiatives like subsidized rideshares through Via New Haven are worth the cost.

Sabin said that he believes that Bus Rapid Transit plans need more community input.

“I think that frequency is not being emphasized enough as the project is is taking shape,” he said. “If we’re supposed to invest $300 million in this project, I think we need to make sure that it actually increases ridership.”

He added, “I’ve been fighting to make buses free in our state since 2022.”

Dillon said she believes in a “safe street system.” On Bus Rapid Transit in particular, she said, “I support the concept.”

Still, she alluded to the fact that current plans would see the rapid Whalley Avenue route turn on Fitch Street toward Southern Connecticut State University, rather than continuing through Westville and Amity. There is a challenge with “our own geography,” given the narrowing of Whalley Avenue by Westville Village. She said she is looking forward to tackling “the challenges of what’s going to happen in Upper Whalley.”

Farmer said he supports Via. He noted that “transportation is a disability justice issue, right? It is the ability to be in community and to build community.”

Farmer said he has long advocated for Bus Rapid Transit and supports “regionalization” of transportation, though he said, “Most of the people who make decisions” about the bus system “do not actually ride the bus.”

He also called on Yale University to cease operating its private shuttle system, critiquing the use of “diesel buses” in particular.

Immigrant Defense Fund

Sabin and Dillon both expressed support for a state fund assisting immigrants in ICE detention with obtaining a lawyer.

Asked for his thoughts after the debate, Farmer said that he wants to know more about how such a fund would operate and whom it would prioritize. “We gotta talk to organizations,” he said. “What do they want?”

Ranked-Choice Voting

Asked to provide “yes” or “no” answers, Farmer and Sabin both said they support ranked-choice voting, while Dillon responded, “Eh.”

Governor Primary

“I think I’m probably voting for Josh Elliott,” said Sabin, referring to the Hamden state representative who is challenging incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont in the August primary.

“I haven’t spoken to the governor or endorsed anybody, but I’m leaning toward the governor,” said Dillon. She noted, “I think Josh wants me out of office.”

Farmer simply responded, “Pass.”