New laws will be taking effect Oct. 1 regarding recreational marijuana, recycling, smoking, employment of older workers, domestic violence, and a five-cent surcharge on miniature bottles of liquor, among others.
Some of the new laws are narrow slices of broader, multi-pronged legislation that becomes fully effective at different times after being passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ned Lamont. Certain aspects of gambling legislation, for example, have already taken effect, but sports betting is not scheduled to start in Connecticut until Oct. 7 online and at two casinos in southeastern Connecticut and sites overseen by the state lottery.
Here is a look at some of the new laws which begin on Oct. 1:
Grow your own marijuana
For the first time, medical marijuana patients will be allowed to grow their own weed in their homes, starting Oct. 1. The new law says they can grow six plants in their home if they are 18 or older with a maximum of 12 plants per household — regardless of how many people are living there.
This law is separate from recreational marijuana for the general adult population over age 21, who cannot start growing weed in their homes until July 2023.
Retail sales of marijuana are not expected in Connecticut at least until at least May 2022 as the state is embarking on the detailed process of regulations and licensing as they determine which applicants are eligible to be growers or retailer sellers. Under the law, towns can block retail sales under local zoning laws, but they cannot stop deliveries that are coming from outside the town.
The new law also states that, starting Oct. 1, any person who gives marijuana “to a domesticated animal shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.”
Rules for smoking weed
The new marijuana law also includes several changes in smoking restrictions in general, including cigarettes, cigars, and vaping. Now, smokers will be prevented from lighting up within 25 feet of buildings catering to the general public, including restaurants and retail stores.
Any community with more than 50,000 population must set aside a designated area where people can smoke pot. That could be in a section of a park, for example. But the decision is entirely up to the municipality, and the legislature did not specifically dictate where the smoking areas would be.
The law says smoking will not be permitted in hotels, motels, prisons, and psychiatric facilities, among others. Special smoking rooms that had been previously set aside by large employers will no longer be allowed.
The general rule is that a person can smoke marijuana anywhere that they can smoke cigarettes. But towns retain the authority to make final decisions that are based on local zoning rules.
Little nips will be taxed
In an effort to improve recycling, the new law represents the largest expansion of the Connecticut bottle bill in decades by doubling the deposit and widely expanding the items being recycled.
For more than 40 years, Connecticut residents have been returning bottles and getting back the same 5 cents. Now, the deposit would double to 10 cents, starting in January 2024.
Starting Oct. 1, various retailers must have special “reverse vending machines” that accept empty containers so they can be recycled under Public Act 21-58.
In addition, retailers will start charging a five-cent surcharge on “nips,” which are miniature bottles of liquor. The “nips” are expected to generate an estimated $4.5 million per year for cities and towns, based on the sale of 90 million nips bottles per year in Connecticut. That includes 3.1 million sold in Hartford, 2.4 million in Manchester, 2.2 million in Bristol, and 1.5 million in East Hartford.
As a surcharge, and not a deposit, the purchasers would not get their nickel back. The towns would then use the money for various purposes, such as hiring a recycling coordinator, for example.
Employers cannot ask for birth date
In a move that would affect older workers, employers will no longer be allowed to seek an applicant’s graduation date or birth date on their initial job applications. Sen. Derek Slap, a West Hartford Democrat, battled for three years against the practice in an attempt to block employers from dropping experienced candidates based on their age.
The state has 436,000 workers in their mid-50s at a time when the workforce is changing. Currently, 26.5% of Connecticut workers are over the age of 54, which is a sharp jump from 20% of workers in 2008. The leading industries for older employees are health care, manufacturing, education and retail.
AARP reported in 2018 that 60% of older workers had seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and 76% saw age discrimination as a factor in gaining employment, Slap said. Many older employees are forced to continue working today because they have no traditional pension or retirement savings.
The bill provides exceptions for the employer if there is “a bona fide occupational qualification or need” to know the applicant’s age “or if it is required by state or federal law, according to a legislative bill analysis. The measure covers employers with at least three workers.
The measure comes following approval of a pay equity law that took effect in 2019 and prohibits employers from asking prospective employees about their pay history.
Domestic violence
Another change involves an expansion of the domestic violence law that was prompted by the high-profile case of Jennifer Farber Dulos, a 50-year-old New Canaan woman who went missing in May 2019 after dropping her children off at school. Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, was arrested and charged with murder in the case and later died by suicide in January 2020.
The law will now include nonviolent acts like financial and psychological abuse, which advocates said will help judges to rule in cases where they have not seen any physical violence.
Sen. Alex Kasser, a Greenwich Democrat who spearheaded the bill before resigning from the Senate earlier this year, said at the time that more women are treated in hospital emergency rooms for domestic violence injuries than for “muggings, rapes and car accidents” combined. Domestic violence, she said, is the leading cause of death for pregnant women in Connecticut and is “much more than black eyes and bruises.”
The new law details the concept of nonviolent abuse or “coercive control,” saying that it includes “isolating the household or family member from friends, relatives, or other support,” as well as “depriving the household or family member of basic necessities,” according to a legislative analysis.
The control includes “regulating, or monitoring the household or family member’s movements, communications, daily behavior, finances, economic resources, or access to services.”
The control also includes “committing or threatening to commit cruelty to animals that intimidates the applicant.”
Safety around ice cream trucks
Prompted by the death of a 10-year-old boy last year, lawmakers passed a bipartisan law to improve safety around ice cream trucks.
The legislation requires ice cream truck owners to install safety equipment that includes flashing lights, caution signs, signal arms, and front convex mirrors by May 2022. It also prohibits ice cream sellers from stopping in high-traffic areas.
Known as “Tristan’s Law,” the measure was prompted by the experience of the family of 10-year-old Tristan Barhorst of Wallingford, who was struck and killed by a car after heading to an ice cream truck in Cheshire. On a summer day on the last day of school on June 12, 2020, Barhorst and his friends headed toward the truck when they heard the jingle in their neighborhood. After obtaining his ice cream, Barhorst was headed back across the street when he was struck by a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 17-year-old.
Part of the bill took effect July 1, but the enforcement aspects begin Oct. 1 with a first offense considered as an infraction and a second offense subject to a fine up to $100.
What laws already took effect recently?
Nearly 100 new laws already became effective on July 1, including those related to the two-year, $46 billion budget that keeps state operations running from courts and prisons to parks and schools. Those include making it easier for adults to obtain their original birth certificates in adoptions, allowing the purchase of Tasers and stun guns, banning deceptive advertising for crisis pregnancy centers, and giving tax incentives for computer data centers.
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
