The Planning & Zoning Commission in Essex engaged in an intense discussion over the potential laws and regulations governing local cannabis dispensaries in town during a meeting on June 7. With a subcommittee at work on a draft of regulations to put in place ahead of a moratorium expiration in December, the conversation displayed a sharp rift in opinion on the issue.

The discussion is a part of ongoing deliberations by the PZC that have been active since the State of Connecticut passed legislation to legalize cannabis last year, and through a moratorium on applications for the opening of dispensaries in Essex that was enacted by the PZC in December 2021. This was to allow for more time for research on the issue by the PZC’s Cannabis Subcommittee that was formed after the implementation of the moratorium.

The subcommittee, created by the PZC to work more closely on the issue of marijuana zoning laws, is currently looking at three separate options for regulations governing the sale of cannabis in Essex. These include the permission of the sale of cannabis strictly for medical purposes, the permission of the sale of both medicinal and recreational marijuana, and the outright prohibition of selling cannabis entirely.

According to Essex Land Use Official Carey Duques, the commission has yet to draft a proposal and is still engaged in conversation over the appropriate course of action.

“We don’t have a proposal at this point because I’m not sure where the commission wants to head, but the goal is to have some kind of a proposal that would be a text amendment that then would lead us to a public hearing to adopt one of those three options,” said Duques at the meeting.

The heated discussion opened up with alternate member Jeffery Lovelace stating straight-up his opposition to the sale of marijuana for any purpose in town or in any town in the state.

“I will be right up front. I am very much opposed to the regulation of marijuana in our state,” he said.

Lovelace presented to other PZC members a document titled “Reasons for Prohibition of Medical and Recreational Mariuana Sale in the Town of Essex, CT,” outlining his views as to why the PZC should outright ban the sale of marijuana in town, therefore banning the construction of cannabis dispensaries.

The document references federal, state, and local laws and regulations as precedents for why the PZC has no choice but to ban the sale of cannabis, with one line citing multiple town zoning regulations, including Reg. 70A.2(C), all of which amounts to legally barring the “sale of ‘adult entertainment products,’ in Village, Commercial, and Route 9 Special Development (R9SDD) Districts.” The City of Bridgeport has also classified cannabis as an “adult entertainment product.”

PZC member Chris Riley and alternate member David Rosengren expressed their sharp disagreement with Lovelace, with the former criticizing comparisons Lovelace later made between the sale and consumption of cannabis to that of alcohol.

“The idea that you look at this as more dangerous than a liquor store or a bar, or a private party where people are taking Ubers home because they’ve overindulged, and I’m on the front lines with you in that regard, is nonsense,” said Riley. “‘[Cannabis] is legal. There are dozens and dozens of lawyers who worked in Hartford for both the House and Senate, Democratic and Republican caucuses, who looked this over. They passed a law overwhelmingly, the governor signed it into law.”

Rosengren philosophically sided with Riley on the issue, expressing his strong support for the sale of cannabis products in town, viewing moves to do so as consistent with state law and regulations. The alternate member insisted to the PZC that marijuana is a largely unharmful and non-addictive substance, and that its Schedule I status, designating it a substance still technically illegal in the United States under the Controlled Substance Act, is the result of federal laws rooted in racism and xenophobia.

“We’ve gotten over that hurdle already. Let’s not keep this in the closet anymore. We made it illegal in the 1930s mainly due to racist policies,” said Rosengren. “We can all walk around the streets smoking marijuana. We can smoke it in our homes. [Laws] are not going to keep people from smoking. As long as we have liquor stores, we should at least allow the sale of marijuana. Let’s get over this.”

Following Rosengren’s remarks, alternate member Thomas Carroll chimed in with his viewpoint that the PZC should be more local in its decision-making without being swayed by national or state-level arguments.

“I think what we need to do is step back and figure out what’s best for our town,” said Carroll. “Should we do it because it’s something that’s bigger than the town? I don’t think that’s a good argument. I think what we need to do is concentrate on what is best for the town, what our people want, and not try to make a situation exist that doesn’t really exist, with respect to inequality or racism, or anything like that,” he said.

Carroll said he did not possess a specific viewpoint on the issue, but he did express his personal concerns about the usage of marijuana in general.

“I believe it’s a gateway drug. I’ve seen a lot of my friends move from marijuana to cocaine, to heroin, to other drugs. I’ve seen it abused, I’ve seen it take the life out of people. I’ve seen people wake up everyday, wake and bake, which is pretty common. They have no desire to do anything else but smoke,” he said.

While Carroll acknowledged he has seen similar effects on people through alcohol abuse, he however did not agree with Rosengren’s point regarding the largely non-harmful nature of cannabis compared to drugs such as alcohol and others that are listed as Schedule I alongside cannabis, such as heroin and ecstasy.

“To say that there’s no effect at all, I think that’s crazy talk. But I think we need to figure out what’s best for the town,” he said. “We’re a population of 6,000 people. Do we really need a dispensary in this town?”

Carroll doubted that cannabis dispensaries in Essex would be a service to any part of the population of the town, that such retail stores would attract tourists, or that it could be an appropriate part of what he described as a “family-friendly town.”

The moratorium on applications for cannabis dispensaries is set to expire on Dec. 31, while the subcommittee continues to conduct research and deliberate on the issue prior to the end of the year.