Connecticut adult-use cannabis? Legalization could happen as soon as this year if the Nutmeg State’s Governor, Ned LaMont, gets his way. LaMont recently introduced a budget request with plans for cannabis legalization within Connecticut.

On many levels the announcement from LaMont comes as no surprise as the state’s been working since 2019 to hash out details for a legalization plan that makes sense for the state. Toss in the fact that LaMont and other leaders in the statehouse have grown publicly and exceedingly tired of seeing revenue drive across the state line into Massachusetts, and that Connecticut’s westerly neighbor New York is aggressively eyeing legalization of its own and, yep, this all makes sense.

Connecticut adult-use legalization

Here are a few key takeaways from LaMont’s budget request:

1. Adults 21+: Adults over the age of 21 would be allowed to possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana. As written, the budget request would not allow for home cultivation. However, the state’s department of consumer protection would study the possibility.
2. Licensing and license categories: The request calls for licensing to be initially awarded via a lottery system (more on that below) and here are the license categories as proposed: 
   1. Cultivators
   2. Adult-use Retailers
   3. Hybrid medical/adult retailers
   4. Microcultivators
   5. Product manufacturing
   6. Food and beverage manufacturing
   7. Product packaging
   8. Delivery
3. Connecticut’s timeline is AMBITIOUS: And we love that. Connecticut wants to get things selling by May of 2022, a mere 15 months from now. Will it happen? Eh, tough to say. Taxation would look like this:
   1. $1.25/gram excise tax on flower
   2. State sales tax
   3. Municipalities who opt in on sales could slap on an additional local tax up to 3%.
4. Expungements: Marijuana-related convictions from October of 2015 and prior would be tossed out.
5. Secret shoppers? Cannabis compliance?? As a consultancy with its own in-house cannabis compliance department that handles audits and canna-related rectifications, we’re tickled pink to see the proposal of not only 60+ new cannabis compliance related jobs within Connecticut’s consumer protection department, but also by the prospect of designated and sanctioned secret shoppers looking at products directly facing shoppers. Well played, Connecticut.

If you’re thinking of applying for a license in Connecticut (or anywhere else for that matter), reach out to MMLG and ask us some questions. We promise we won’t bite.