The first round of retail cannabis sales in Connecticut for adults 21 and older began Tuesday at seven medical marijuana establishments located across the state, less than two years after Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation making Connecticut the newest state Legalization of recreational sales.
As many as 40 dispensaries, along with dozens of other cannabis-related businesses, are expected to eventually open in Connecticut by the end of 2023.
“Today is historic, but the real story is about the benefits that are to come that will change the lives of communities,” Adam Wood, president of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce of Hemp, said in a statement. It is estimated that the new industry will create more than 10,000 jobs over the next two years and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue that will help the communities most affected by the war on drugs.
Lamont, a Democrat, said Tuesday that one of the goals of the legislation legalizing recreational marijuana is to create a regulated and safer product for consumers. Another part of the law allows convictions for low-level marijuana offenses to be expunged, many of them automatically. Officials said nearly 44,000 convictions have been cleared since the start of the new year.
“Today marks a turning point in the grievances caused by the War on Drugs, most notably now that there is a legal alternative to the dangerous and unregulated underground cannabis market,” Lamont said in a statement.
Recreational sales were allowed to begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. State-approved stores in Montville, New Haven, Branford, Newington, Stamford, Willimantic and Meridin are expected to open their doors to the general public on Day One. Two more accredited clinics will open in Danbury and Torrington at a later date.
AP Photo/Jessica Hill
In Montville, local state legislators and the mayor attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at The Botanist. A steady stream of medical marijuana patients stopped to pick up their items before the recreational sales began. Workers inside a heated tent folded free T-shirts and prepared to help customers place orders at the kiosks.
Len Goldstein, 60, from Norwich, was the first customer in line in Montville. She said she has suffered from chronic pain since 2011 and has been a customer of medical marijuana. She said she’s glad recreational sales are now legal, but she has some concerns.
“I’m worried about young people because they don’t know how to handle it and they’ll drive away and it’s going to be very difficult for the police to figure out what,” she said.
Goldstein added that she didn’t intend to be first in line, but she was glad she did. I got a bag of goodies, including a $250 vaporizer.
It’s unclear if the novelty of legal marijuana has faded a bit for Connecticut consumers, considering that retail sales began in 2018 in neighboring Massachusetts and last month in neighboring Rhode Island. New York.
Twenty-one states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults over the past decade, although it remains illegal under federal law. After voters approved legalization in Maryland and Missouri in November, marijuana advocates are now pressing similar efforts elsewhere in the US, including Oklahoma and Ohio.
As of February 3, 2022, 37 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of cannabis products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Medical and recreational “hybrid” cannabis stores in Connecticut prepared for large crowds on Tuesday.
On average, about 200-300 medical marijuana purchases are made at the Montville location, said Kate Nelson, senior vice president of Midwest and Northwest regions for Acreage Holdings, which owns the Botanist brand. She expects there to be a 150% increase in sales during the first week of the adult entertainment business, but conceded that is likely to plateau.
The company’s second Connecticut location, located in Danbury, is expected to open in the next few weeks after local approvals are finalized.
“I think even before 40 Triggers comes online, you’ll start to see less of this excitement of something new and more of that kind of what the status quo is going to become,” she said. “We’re now in an area of the country where other adult use states are close by. So our focus will be really, in Connecticut specifically, to make sure that this adult use program has the product that you need and we can support the industry…to make sure that Connecticut differentiates the same as other competitive markets.
Initial sales in Connecticut will be limited to a quarter ounce (7 grams) of cannabis flower or equivalent, in an effort to ensure there is enough support for medical marijuana patients. Different items can be bought together to make up a quarter ounce. The state Department of Consumer Protection plans to closely monitor retail sales and manufacturing supplies to determine when that amount may eventually be increased.
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