Criminal Justice
The bill
An Act Concerning the Criminal Treatment of Cannabis. Ten sections, drafted to stand entirely on its own.
What this bill does not do
- It does not legalize unlicensed sale. Section 21a‑420c is not amended.
- It does not raise any cultivation limit.
- It amends no section of chapter 420f. Section 9 says so expressly.
- It is prospective. It resentences no one, erases no conviction, and provides no relief to any person now serving a sentence.
- It reduces no penalty for conduct involving a firearm, physical force, a person under twenty-one, or another controlled substance.
Section by section
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| § 1 — Legislative findings new | Twelve findings, each tied to quoted statutory text, closing with a statement of legislative policy: that cannabis penalties be internally consistent, proportionate, consistent with the regulatory framework, and differentiated from offenses involving violence, weapons, minors or other controlled substances. |
| § 2 — Drug factory offense amends § 21a-277 | Removes cannabis from subsection (c). Bars arrest, charge, conviction and use as evidence based on cannabis, ordinary cultivation and packaging equipment, or currency found with those items. States twice that the offense remains fully available for every other controlled substance, and that nothing is made inadmissible in any other proceeding. |
| § 3 — Mandatory minimum amends § 21a-278(b)(1) | One bracketed deletion: subparagraph (D), the one-kilogram cannabis clause. Everything else in the subdivision, including the drug-dependent-person exception, is unchanged. |
| § 4 — Enhancements amends § 21a-278a | Adds a subsection barring the two-year and three-year non-suspendable consecutive terms where cannabis is the only controlled substance. The enhancement remains fully available for every other substance. |
| § 5 — Unlicensed sale penalties amends § 21a-278b | Replaces the flat structure with three quantity tiers: class B then class A misdemeanor from eight ounces; class A misdemeanor then class D felony from two pounds; class D then class C felony from ten pounds. This creates felony exposure that does not exist under current law. Adds a subsection removing any mandatory minimum for the section and establishing a presumption against incarceration. |
| § 6 — Cultivation above authorized limits new | A five-step ladder: civil penalties at $250 to $2,000 for up to twelve excess plants, then class C, class B and class A misdemeanors. No felony at any plant count. Counting rules for mature, immature, seedling and clone plants, and for households with more than one authorized grower. An anti-stacking rule barring charges under other statutes for the same plants by reason of the count alone, expressly preserving any charge resting on independent evidence of sale or intent to sell. |
| § 7 — Aggravating circumstances new | Six: firearm or dangerous instrument; use or threatened use of physical force; another controlled substance under circumstances violating § 21a-277 or § 21a-278; sale to a person under twenty-one; use or coercion of a person under eighteen; and ten pounds or more combined with a storefront held out to the public, two or more employees, defiance of a cease-and-desist order, or transport into or out of the state. Quantity alone is expressly insufficient. Alleged in a separate part of the information and proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. |
| § 8 — Forfeiture amends § 54-36h(a)(1) | Excludes cases where cannabis is the only controlled substance from the forfeiture of moneys. The remaining subdivisions of that subsection, which require a violation of § 21a-277 or § 21a-278, are unchanged. |
| § 9 — Construction new | States that the act amends no section of chapter 420f, alters no right or limit under that chapter, changes no cultivation limit, and creates no right to cultivate or sell. |
| § 10 — Effective dates — | Findings on passage. All substantive amendments October 1, 2027. |
The documents
- The billComplete text, ten sections, with a research annotation and the 2026 session check.
- Bill summaryTwo pages: existing law, what changes, what stays illegal, what the bill does not do.
- Bill analysisSection-by-section, in the format the Office of Legislative Research uses. Simulated, not an official OLR document.
- Fiscal noteAgency-by-agency. Simulated, not an official OFA document.