Pushed by neighboring states to do so, the Connecticut legislature will look again to legalize recreational marijuana this year despite advocates suggesting last spring the issue could not pass in 2020.

The conversation now has shifted, said Senate President Pro-Tem Martin Looney and House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, from “if” the state should legalize the drug to what it should look like when it inevitably does.

“I think if a flat-out ‘should we legalize?’ bill goes up in the House that it would pass,” Aresimowicz said. “The problem is when you’re talking about resources and dollars coming in from it, that’s where the disagreement is.”

Still undetermined is what form a bill might take, balancing many issues: how many dispensaries, the percent of the tax, how licenses are distributed and, crucially, how a bill handles “expungement,” the wiping out of old records for some marijuana arrests.

While advocates were optimistic headed into the 2019 legislative session, the measure died without a vote after legislators failed to come to agreements on sending revenue to urban areas and communities most impacted by the war on drugs. Members of the Connecticut Black Clergy Alliance opposed it, sinking support among racial minority lawmakers.

No Republican support emerged, leaving Democrats with little margin. With elections in 2020 and a short, three-month session, many thought that at most the General Assembly would start the long process of sending a marijuana question to voters as a constitutional amendment.

But the advance of the industry and changing public opinion make a full legalization bill likely this year, Looney and Aresimowicz said.

“The reality is we have marijuana here in the state of Connecticut,” Aresimowicz said. “It’s here and we have no ability to limit the amount of THC, we have no ability to decide what products are available, and obviously we’re not benefiting from it.”

THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Senate Democrats discussed marijuana in a marathon, six-hour, closed door meeting earlier this month.

“We are revisiting legalizing recreational cannabis because we see that most of our neighboring states have already done it or want to do it this year,” Looney said, recalling that it took the state several years to decriminalize recreational cannabis as legislators relied heavily on public opinion.

Also this month, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo vowed to legalize marijuana in New York, prioritizing a push that fell apart last year amid tensions over who should be allowed to sell the drug and where the revenue should go, similar to the breakdown in the debate in Connecticut.

Gov. Ned Lamont, who previously discussed with Cuomo a regional approach to legalizing recreational cannabis, has said he supports the initiative and would sign a bill legalizing the drug, but isn’t making a concerted effort to push the issue, leaving that instead to the legislature.

“The discussions between New York Governor Cuomo and Gov. Lamont that started in the summer have continued over the recent months,” Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said in a written statement. “Governor Lamont believes this issue should be approached with multi-state collaboration and coordination, as our borders are merely lines on a map when it comes to commerce.”

Reiss added that Lamont and his staff are “still examining the path forward” for legislation.

Connecticut has a network of producers and about a dozen dispensaries for medical sales, with a growing list of allowable conditions.

Democratic legislators said that because popular opinion seems to favor legalizing recreational cannabis, legalizing through a constitutional amendment — a strategy briefly proposed last year that could take up to three years — would only delay the inevitable.

“We had three very detailed bills on this last year,” Looney said. “So I think we’re well prepared to do that when the time comes ... We clearly need additional revenue and anecdotally we hear about people who travel to Massachusetts to purchase it.”

Pat O’Neil, the spokesman for House Republicans, said he’s not aware of any GOP support for a weed bill. “Maybe what’s driving it is revenue reports out of Massachusetts.”

State Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, also said there is no Republican support for legalizing weed and blamed renewed interest on expected budget deficits — which he called a bad reason for legalization, considering the health effects.

“I’m hearing yet again another push to legalize marijuana,” Candelora said. “After a long hearing last session, they could not garner the votes to get marijuana over the finish line. I don’t know what has changed.”

“The more [legislators] learn, the more support we get for a ‘No’ vote, If you are paying attention to the health impact and impacts on our children.”

Judiciary committee co-chair, State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, called on Republican legislators to join the conversation on recreational cannabis.

“Legal cannabis is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Stafstrom said. “I think the Connecticut public is fairly clear on this issue. The polling data from around the state has been fairly uniform that there is an overwhelming majority of state residents that would like to see us legalize. That would be the issue if any that would be before the voters.”

Bill Cummings contributed to this story.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt