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Ad Hoc Marijuana Advisory Board Holds First Public Hearing

The town’s Ad Hoc Marijuana Advisory Committee held its first public hearing last week to solicit feedback on whether and, if so, how Madison residents want to incorporate retail sales and other aspects of legal cannabis into the community. Town officials have not yet enacted a plan and, though the state law has mandates that set certain criteria and limits, municipalities still have leeway in how they want to approach this issue.

Several decisions will have to be made by the town, including whether residents even want retail establishments in town. The Planning & Zoning Commission passed a nine-month moratorium on retail sales in October 2021.

According to state law, Madison will only be able to issue one retail license and one “micro-cultivator” license until 2024, so how the town incorporates future thresholds will need to be discussed. However, other licenses for cultivator, producer, manufacturer, delivery, and packaging are all permitted under the new law as well.

The committee, chaired by Selectman Bruce Wilson, also wants feedback on several other issues concerning legal cannabis and asks residents to consider:

• How will legal cannabis be regulated for town employees, including coordination with existing union contracts?

• Regulations for use on town property

• Establishment of a municipal sales tax

• Possible zoning restricting

• Designation of how revenues are appropriated

• Whether larger grows/cultivation will be allowed

It is important to note that any town employee holding a Commercial Driver’s License would still be required under the auspices of federal law to submit to drug testing, including testing for cannabis. Holders of CDLs cannot have any amount of illegal drugs when tested, and are also held to a much lower threshold on a blood alcohol test and must be below a limit of 0.04 percent (Half the limit for a standard driver), whether they are on the job or not.

Visit www.madisonct.org for updates on future committee meetings.