New Meriden wellness center will feature hemp and CBD products – Meriden Record-Journal
MERIDEN — Instead of rakes and lawn mower parts, the former Civali’s Hardware store at 1387 E. Main St. will become a health and wellness center with a doctor’s office, a hemp and CBD product shop, and a glass accessory shop. The new plaza, which has yet to be named, is Tomarin Holdings LLC’s latest venture in the city. It is expected to open in several weeks. “It’s really beautiful,” said Tomarin partner Rino Ferrarese. “It’s really exciting, new businesses, jobs. There is a body of water behind the property. We’re cleaning it up and putting in benches. We’re going to try to make it as nice as…
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Connecticut Marijuana Hearing Shows Governor’s Legalization Bill Likely To Be Amended After Equity Pushback – Marijuana Moment
Caregivers say the lobbying efforts come down to a lack of understanding and greed. By Marla R. Miller, Michigan Advance Medical marijuana caregiver Ryan Bringold has been involved in Michigan’s grassroots efforts to legalize cannabis for years. But as larger licensed recreational and medical cannabis grow facilities and provisioning centers crop up across Michigan, caregivers like Bringold who helped legalize marijuana feel they are being pushed out. A small group of corporate activists want to tighten state restrictions for medical caregivers and patients. The goal: Cut plant counts, require product testing and reduce homegrown cultivation. Bringold, 49, who lives in…
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Connecticut Governor Touts Marijuana Legalization Bill Ahead Of First Hearing – Marijuana Moment
At a press conference on Wednesday to build support for his plan to legalize marijuana in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and other backers described the proposal as a thoughtful, data-driven measure designed to address decades of disproportionate harm to the state’s Black and brown residents. While the bill is set for its first committee hearing on Friday, some social justice advocates have deep concerns about how the legal market would be structured. “This has been a long time coming,” the governor said of his proposal. “We’ve been talking about this for ages, and I think now is the time…
Read More »Medical marijuana in Connecticut has problems. Legalizing adult recreational use can fix them – The CT Mirror
Connecticut has gotten right most aspects of its medical marijuana program, but some parts are broken. Legalizing adult recreational use of cannabis can fix what’s broken and can prevent from breaking what’s fixed. Mark Mathew Braunstein What’s working? Its ballooning rosters of patients, physicians, and dispensaries are hallmarks of a successful program. So let’s look at those numbers. Medical marijuana (MMJ) was legalized here in 2012. By 2015, 4,914 patients had registered. In 2017, that mushroomed fourfold to 22,279. Last June, that nearly doubled to 41,292. As of January, 49,721 total. That means one of every 75 Connecticut residents is…
Read More »As Connecticut edges closer to legalizing recreational marijuana, pot growers are ready to do business – Hartford Courant
Marijuana buds are shown at Huron View Provisioning in Ann Arbor, Mich., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The first year of state-licensed recreational marijuana sales in Michigan saw $511 million of sales in recreational and $474 million in medical sales, generating over $100 million in tax revenue, but the state also found that the industry drastically failed to attract minority business owners. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) (Paul Sancya/AP)
Read More »CT’s legal marijuana trade is ready to bloom – The CT Mirror
Rocky Hill — On the coldest and grayest days of winter, a warm and improbably bright yellow light reliably shines on a dense thicket of plantings deep inside a repurposed warehouse. They are marijuana plants, some as tall as Christmas trees, thick with flowers. “For these plants, it’s like July 15 every day,” said Rino Ferrarese, the president and co-founder of CTPharma, one of the four licensed producers of medical cannabis in Connecticut, a state weighing a jump into the much bigger recreational market. Serrated leaves and flowers glisten with what appears to be a light frost, a promising sign…
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Lamont wants recreational marijuana to be for sale in Connecticut in 2022; revenue would assist distressed cities and towns. Homegrown would not be legal. – Hartford Courant
“Our bill truly looks at a thorough accounting of the damage done by the war on drugs, which I like to refer to as the war on black and brown people,” said Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, who co-chairs of the legislature’s labor committee. “It’s not just about revenues, which in Black and brown communities, we’re calling ‘reparations’ … but it is also about making sure that as we legalize recreational cannabis, we are not creating loopholes for further criminalization.”
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Connecticut Governor Includes Marijuana Legalization Plan In Budget Proposal – Marijuana Moment
The governor of Connecticut released a budget request on Wednesday that includes a plan to legalize marijuana. But while the proposal places an emphasis on social equity, advocates are expressing expressing concerns about the lack of specifics so far. Gov. Ned Lamont (D), who convened an informal work group in recent months to make recommendations on the policy change, said his budget plan will involve establishing a “comprehensive framework for the cultivation, manufacture, sale, possession, use, and taxation of cannabis that prioritizes public health, public safety, and social justice.” “The proposal builds on the significant work that the Legislature has…
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