Connecticut legalized adult-use cannabis last year, but it’s still unclear when recreational marijuana will be available to buy without a prescription.
Existing medical-use cultivators and retailers could be the first to offer recreational products in the market, but only a handful have applied so far to convert their operations to a “hybrid” model — producing or selling both medical and recreational pot.
Under the law, the fee to convert is $1 million for retailers and $3 million for producers, which could be prohibitive for many businesses. That rate is discounted for operators who form 50/50 “equity joint venture” partnerships with a person or business that meets certain income or residency criteria.
Another potential hitch: retail sales can’t commence until there’s an aggregate of 250,000 square feet of grow and manufacture space in Connecticut that’s devoted to the adult-use market. Officials with the Department of Consumer Protection, which administers licensing, are working with producers to track the industry’s footprint as many medical-use cultivators expand their operations.
On its website, the department explains: “The supply chain must be entirely licensed before sales can begin, including stores, testing labs, and growers, and there must be enough growing capacity to supply the retail market.”
State officials say their goal is for adult-use marijuana products to be available for sale by the end of this year or early next…
