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Connecticut Licensing Timeline Still Not Set

Connecticut Licensing Timeline Still Not Set - Marijuana Packaging

Connecticut only recently became the nineteenth state to legalize possession and recreational use of marijuana. Finally allowing folks to enjoy their day and decompress with a quick hit from the bong. After converting existing licenses held by medical marijuana growers and converting medical marijuana dispensaries, the manufacture, distribution, and sale of adult recreational cannabis will also be legal. Currently, hard timeframes haven’t been determined.

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection will oversee the licensing process – accepting license applications for cultivation, retail sale, transportation, and delivery. Initially, only those individuals or groups that meet the social equity criteria established by the statute and The Social Equity Council will be permitted to apply. 

The DCP initially determines how many licenses will be issued in each category and that social equity qualified applicants must hold 50%. Applicants may file more than the DCP-designated number of applications. In that case, the DCP will have a lottery for social equity applicants first and then for those not social-equity-qualified. Two lotteries will likely be held for each category of application.

Social equity applicant entities must meet the disproportionately impacted community residency and median household income requirements.

A “disproportionately impacted” community is defined as having an unusually high rate of drug arrests and convictions or an unemployment rate of over 10% compared to other communities.

Recently, the Social Equity Council conditionally approved residency documentation and income requirements for diversity applicants. They did not announce a timeline for applications to be released or submitted. The Social Equity Council has final approval over the documents that license applicants must submit and will post the criteria online.

“Once they issue that final approval, we will begin making applications available 30 days after that,” Kaitlyn Krasselt, the DCP’s communications director, wrote. “We at DCP will make a formal announcement with the dates that applications will be available when we are able to do that, but at this time, no dates have been set as we wait for the Council’s approval.”

Connecticut Governor Lamont and leaders in the Connecticut Legislature assert that their new law is the most comprehensive and socially progressive in the nation. It provides for the removal of penalty powers for educational institutions, the erasure of criminal convictions for past possession and use, and the decision to include procedures intended to assist communities disproportionately impacted by earlier drug laws with social equity programs.

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