As of July 1, possession of a small amount of marijuana by those 21 and older is fully legal in Connecticut, following a bill signed by Governor Ned Lamont last month. As the state moves methodically toward a full recreational legalization, which will happen by the beginning of 2023, other town boards and officials are already discussing the hot-button topic in earnest.

Both the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) recently held preliminary discussions on how the town would navigate this process, with the BOS planning a town-wide task force to lead discussion and policy over the next several months.

“We have to figure out how to engage the community also and get their input and see what people think,” said First Selectman Peggy Lyons. “It’s all over the map. I don’t think it’s political one way or another, or age even. You don’t know where people come out on this.”

That task force will include members of Madison Youth & Family Services (MYFS), the PZC, the schools, the Police and the Health departments, and people focused on economic development, according to Lyons.

Lyons said the aim is to have a charge for this task force, which would likely remain a purely advisory body, sometime this month.

“This is going to touch most pieces of town government in some way,” she said.

PZC Chair Ron Clark said that from a zoning standpoint, the timeline to make a decision on how to regulate marijuana is when retail and growing licenses are issued by the state. The date for that is far from certain, as a state Social Equity Council, which has not yet been formed, has until Sept. 1 to issue guidelines on what the application to grow and sell marijuana will look like.

The application process cannot begin until Oct. 1 at the earliest, and retail stores will not be allowed to open until the beginning of 2023. Until 2024, the town cannot have more than one retail establishment due to limits in the state bill related to population size.

In the meantime, though, Clark said it will be important to gauge impacts and measure community sentiment before approaching the more granular zoning issues: if, how, and where Madison will allow marijuana to be grown and sold.

“A lot depends on what the community feels,” Clark said. “I’m not going to assume that I know that.”

Clark said he was envisioning the issue ranging between two extremes. On one end, Madison would welcome a significant retail presence of marijuana sellers to drive business traffic, and on the other side, would fully ban all sale (or growth for sale) of marijuana.

“I think the reality, obviously, is probably in between,” he said.

The PZC also will have a say in where cultivators might be allowed to establish cannabis-growing facilities, though to what extent was not immediately clear. Marijuana growers are explicitly delineated from the state statutes that regulate other types of farming and agriculture activity.

Other towns have already begun similar discussions, including Clinton. The Town of Prospect has already passed a resolution banning marijuana retail in that town.

The town will not be able to totally keep marijuana out of Madison, however, as the bill allows those in the state to cultivate up to 12 plants for personal consumption and carry a good amount of marijuana on their person.

“That’s just something we’re going to have to pay attention to,” said Catherine Barden, assistant director of community support at MYFS.

Landlords are also not allowed to ban tenants from owning or consuming cannabis products except under special circumstances.

The law also makes property owners responsible if they allow marijuana to be consumed “knowingly or recklessly” by someone under the age of 21 on their property.

Barden said one of the issues with underage use is that use or possession of a small amount of cannabis only carries a warning for the first offense. A second offense could result in a referral to a youth service bureau, and subsequent offenses will be adjudicated and the child deemed delinquent.

“The trick is going to be tracking those written warnings,” Barden said.

A juvenile who possesses a significant amount of marijuana—five ounces or more—will be deemed immediately delinquent.

Education focused on the significant health issues around youth consumption of THC, the active component of cannabis, is something on which MYFS is already working.

The state has also launched a website intended to provide updates on all marijuana-related issues, including licensure, which can be accessed at portal.ct.gov/cannabis.