The retail cannabis market in Connecticut made more than $250,000 in sales on Tuesday, the first day of legal adult-use marijuana in the state, according to state regulators.
“We have had no reported issues at any of our retailers, and we are proud of the successful launch of the regulated adult-use market,” Connecticut’s Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull stated on Tuesday.
Nine hybrid medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries opened in Connecticut on Tuesday. All of the 9 were medical cannabis dispensaries that completed the necessary steps to become hybrid dispensaries.
According to the Associated Press, as many as 40 dispensaries are expected to open in the state by the end of the year.
As of Tuesday, adult-use cannabis customers in Connecticut can purchase up to a quarter ounce of cannabis per transaction. Medical marijuana patients are allowed to purchase up to 5 ounces per month.
According to the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, the purchase limits are in place “to ensure businesses can maintain adequate supply for both adult-use consumers and medical marijuana patients.”
In December 2022, the department announced that adult-use cannabis sales would begin no earlier than 10 am on January 10, 2023. In late November, the Governor of neighboring Rhode Island issued a press release stating that adult-use marijuana sales would begin on December 1st, leaving New Hampshire as the only state in New England without legal recreational marijuana.
What do Connecticut’s cannabis laws allow?
In June 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill that legalized and established a regulatory system for adult-use cannabis in the state.
Lamont said at the time that the law “will help eliminate the dangerous, unregulated market and support a new and equitable sector of our economy that will create jobs.”
He added, “this measure is comprehensive, protects our children and the most vulnerable in our communities, and will be viewed as a national model for regulating adult-use cannabis. By signing this into law today, we are helping our state move beyond this terrible period of incarceration and injustice.”
Under the legislation signed by Lamont, it is legal for adults over age 21 to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis on their person and up to 5 ounces in their homes or locked in their car or glove box. The law also allows medical marijuana patients to grow up to 3 mature and three immature cannabis plants at home. The law also automatically cleared “certain cannabis-related convictions” that took place between 2000 and 2015 and allows people to petition to clear convictions from outside that time frame.
The law also sets aside at least half of all initial oceans for social equity applicants and established the Social Equity Council to support social equity applicants in cannabis.
Cannabis sales in the state are subject to a 3% municipal sales tax and a 6.35% state sales tax. Sales will also be subject to tax based on the THC content of products, including cannabis flower, edibles, and vapes, which the state says will be around 10% to 15% of the sales price.
All nine retail dispensaries in Connecticut were medical marijuana dispensaries that received licenses to sell adult-use marijuana as well. They include:
Affinity, New Haven
Bluepoint Wellness of Connecticut, Branford
Still River Wellness, Torrington
Fine Fettle Dispensary, Newington
Fine Fettle Dispensary, Stamford
Fine Fettle Dispensary, Willimantic
The Botanist, Danbury
The Botanist, Montville
Willow Brook Wellness, Meriden
Most of the nine dispensaries are multi-state operators. The state does have an opt-out clause for municipalities that do not want to allow dispensaries in their jurisdiction. Unlike in other states such as New York, however, cities have no deadline to opt-out.
“This is a day to celebrate”
What will the retail cannabis market in Connecticut look like in 5 years? According to Michelle Bodian, counsel at leading cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg LLP, “it will be robust and successful,” even if Connecticut “is sometimes an overlooked state or is viewed as a large New York suburb.”
Bodian said she predicts that the state’s other nine medical dispensaries will become the next nine dispensaries where adult-use cannabis can be purchased.
Bodian said that Connecticut has “learned lessons from other [legal cannabis] states” and has “done things differently than any other market.”
These include how the state has prioritized social equity measures and the lottery process, which allows unlimited entries for cannabis business applicants.
Regarding the over-supply and falling cannabis prices that have hit more mature markets like Colorado and California, Bodian said that there is concern in the Connecticut cannabis industry, which they are trying to address by way of limiting how many cultivators will be licensed.
She also stated that while there certainly is a “legacy” (illicit) cannabis market in Connecticut, “in hearings, I haven’t heard the same concerns or fears about the unregulated market dominating the regulated market like you hear in California or potentially in New York.”
But whatever concerns there may be, Bodian stated that the launch of retail cannabis sales in Connecticut is “a day to celebrate.”
“It’s worth noting that 1.5 years from legalization to the start of sales is quick, as compared to many other states.”
