Connecticut gets it....So do 22 other states!

Two prominent lawmakers pushing for reform of the state's marijuana laws have a potent new ally: the budget deficit.

Sen. Toni Harp, chairwoman of the powerful appropriations committee, and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney hope economics will succeed where other arguments have failed in convincing their colleagues that the costs of prosecuting and punishing pot smokers is an expense Connecticut can no longer afford.

"We've got to take a strong look at what we want to pay for as a state," said Harp, D- New Haven, who with Looney is co-sponsoring a bill that would punish low-level marijuana users with a fine, not a criminal charge.

"To waste our resources on this small problem is not a good use of the people's money."

No one is proposing that marijuana be legalized, but Harp and Looney want to see possession of small amounts — 1 ounce or less — decriminalized, just as it was in Massachusetts in November. If the bill is approved, offenders would be given tickets and assessed fines instead of facing criminal penalties. Getting caught with a joint would be akin to getting nabbed for speeding.

"The experience in Massachusetts is indicative that the public may be ahead of elected officials in this one," said Looney, D-New Haven.

A Harvard study found that Massachusetts police spend about $30 million a year on arresting and investigating low-level marijuana users.

Connecticut legislators also will consider a measure that would reduce the size of drug-free school zones. Under state law, any drug activity is subject to harsher criminal penalties if it takes place within 1,500 feet of a school, housing project or day-care center. Critics say such laws unfairly discriminate against residents of cities and densely populated suburbs.

Such steps, though small in scale, represent a new focus in the drug war. Calls for tougher penalties have traditionally dominated the conversation while the case for less restrictive laws was rooted in libertarian philosophy or concerns about racial bias.

"In the past, it was more of a racial justice issue," said LaResse Harvey, policy director for the Hartford-based A Better Way Foundation, which advocates treatment instead of incarceration for drug offenders. "This year, it's a fiscal issue."

"The economic crisis is a real opportunity for drug reform," added Clifford Thornton, president of Efficacy, a nonprofit group dedicated to solving social problems. "The costs are astronomical."