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This free public event provides an opportunity for shoppers to meet and speak with health-related member businesses of the Avon/Canton Chamber Health Council. Participating members are Abundant Health Massage Therapy & Wellness, BodyFit Physical Therapy, Bottoms Up Organization, Fitness Together/Avon, Harvey & Lewis Opticians/Canton, Home Helpers/Farmington Valley/Central CT, IFFS Eldercare Consultants, Imagine Float, Magna Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Center, Make It GF, Patient Advocate For You [PAFY], ShopRite of Canton/Registered Dietitian Shana Griffin, The Residence at Brookside and Your CBD Store/Avon. Visit www.avonchamber.com for more information.

News 12 Staff Sep 28, 2021, 2:18am Updated on: Sep 28, 2021, 2:18am A meeting was held in Pleasantville Monday night regarding preventing the retail sale of marijuana and on-site consumption lounges in the village. Marijuana possession in New York is legal for people over 21 but permitting retail sales and on-site consumption lounges within the Village of Pleasantville is a village decision. Municipalities can opt out of local retail sales and consumption lounges if it occurs by Dec. 31, 2021. A municipality can opt back into sales at any time. Once a municipality opts in, it can never opt…

The estimated number of persons arrested in the United States for violating marijuana laws declined precipitously in 2020, according to data released today by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nonetheless, several hundred thousand Americans continue to be arrested on marijuana-related charges, primarily in states where possession of the plant remains criminally outlawed. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, police made an estimated 350,150 arrests for marijuana-related violations in 2020. (This total is calculated by multiplying the total percentage of marijuana arrests by region with the total number of estimated drug abuse violations [Table 29.]) This total is a 36 percent…

September 27, 2021 Connecticut’s legalization of recreational marijuana in June opened a number of conversations, from the implications for employers to new business opportunities across a wide range of industries. The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut hosted “Business Breakfast and Mini Expo: The Business of Cannabis” on September 8 at the Holiday Inn in Norwich. The panel of experts discussed regulations, rights, and economic development in the cannabis industry: Michelle Seagull, Commissioner, CT Department of Consumer Protections; Kurt Smith, Business Line Manager, Fuss & O’Neill, Inc.; and Kyle Zrenda, Attorney, Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law. Commissioner Seagull provided an overview of…

The 2021 legislative session of the Connecticut General Assembly was a particularly busy one with dozens of important new statutes being enacted that will impact the health care industry. We’ve highlighted below some of the most significant legislation affecting hospitals and individual health care providers scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2021 (unless otherwise indicated, the effective date of each Public Act is October 1, 2021). The purpose of this Alert is to summarize key areas of the law only; please refer to the full Public Acts for complete information. ACTS AFFECTING HOSPITALS Hospital Admissions: Upon admitting a patient…

After a year on the front lines, Jason Zvokel traded in his 15-year career as a Walgreens pharmacist for a different kind of drugstore: a marijuana dispensary. Now instead of administering vaccines and filling prescriptions, he’s helping customers make sense of concentrates, tablets and lozenges. His pay is 5 percent lower, he says, but the hours are more manageable. “I am so much happier,” said Zvokel, 46, who’s worked in retail since he was 18. “For the first time in years, I’m not miserable when I come home from work.” The cannabis industry is riding a pandemic high: Marijuana dispensaries…

Outside the regulation review process, legislators also are expected to take another look at the level of consumer protections, said Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, co-chair of the Public Safety & Security Committee, which has jurisdiction over gambling legislation.

Stonington _ A town meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Pawcatuck Middle School on a proposed ordinance that would ban all types of cannabis sales and production in town. No vote will be taken at the meeting as the question is on the ballot for the Oct. 5 referendum in which the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The ordinance would prohibit a “cannabis establishment” within the town. It defines a cannabis establishment as a producer, dispensary facility, cultivator, micro-cultivator, retailer, hybrid retailer, food and beverage manufacturer, product manufacturer, product packager, delivery service or transporter.  The ordinance does address whether residents will be prohibited from using cannabis products, which…