Mayors, patients and manufacturers urge clearer hemp rules and local powers to combat illicit cannabis sales

Municipal leaders, patients and Connecticut manufacturers told the General Law Committee that illicit, untested cannabis products sold in convenience stores, smoke shops and bodegas are a growing public-health and law-enforcement problem and have called for clearer rules to protect legal retailers and patients.

At the same public hearing, hemp farmers and licensed manufacturers urged lawmakers to pass changes to state hemp law so legal, natively extracted hemp products and research can continue in Connecticut — and to delay a regulatory shift toward so-called "final-form" testing that businesses say raises costs and causes supply problems.

What committee members heard - Local officials called for tools to stop illegal sales to minors and strip illegal products from storefronts. West Haven Mayor Nancy Borer and Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett described raids and seizures of illegal products, including fentanyl and unregulated cannabis sold alongside tobacco and vapes. Garrett said her police found "fentanyl, a hundred pounds of cannabis, and crack cocaine" in a single smoke-shop raid, underscoring public-safety concerns and the strain on local enforcement (transcript: s4154.15). - Patient advocates and the state cannabis ombudsman said…