Mounds said the bill, which was amended twice on Tuesday, allows "just about anyone with a history of cannabis crimes'' or a member of their family, regardless of their financial means, who was once arrested for possession of drugs to be considered an "equity applicants. They would be given, Mounds argued, the same weight as someone from a neighborhood hit hard by the war on drugs.
"That is not equity, and Governor Lamont will veto this bill if it reaches his desk in its current form,'' Mounds said.
Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, the co-chairman of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee and a lead proponent of the legislation, acknowledged that a late change made to the bill on Tuesday "perhaps opens the gates further than many people had imagined "when it comes to determining who gets priority for marijuana-related licenses.