{"id":135,"date":"2021-07-19T10:04:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T10:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CAIiEEgJDGPkTuZQOjiYTx2_EYsqGQgEKhAIACoHCAownuf9CjC99vUCMM-72gU"},"modified":"2021-07-19T10:04:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T10:04:25","slug":"you-can-study-pot-at-uconn-but-ct-communities-not-rushing-into-marijuana-economy-new-haven-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"You can study pot at UConn, but CT communities not rushing into marijuana economy – New Haven Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connecticut communities are proceeding with caution as the state navigates the early stages of legalized recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n

Gov. Ned Lamont made Connecticut the 19th state in the country to legalize recreational marijuana<\/a>, signing a bill into law late last month that legislators has passed earlier this year. John Rosen, an economics professor at the University of New Haven, said Lamont and Connecticut lawmakers really had no choice given that neighboring states already had done so.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith Connecticut being a physically small state, people have been going to buy it in neighboring states,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While experts are predicting certain aspects of the nascent industry could provide the state and some businesses with a financial windfall, economic development professionals, merchants and political leaders who spoke with Hearst Connecticut are taking a wait-and-see approach.<\/p>\n

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\"Mary<\/picture>
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Mary Jane DuPont and her husband, Michael, photographed in their store, Bangarang, in Wallingford surrounded by pipes and bongs on July 16, 2021.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Arnold Gold \/ Hearst Connecticut Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Some won\u2019t even go that far.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe town\u2019s position is and continues to be that as long as marijuana is against federal law, it will not entertain any type of marijuana groweries, dispensaries, etc.,\u201d said Tim Ryan, Wallingford\u2019s economic development specialist. \u201cWe do not expect marijuana (businesses) will have any presence in the town at all unless federal law changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But Gerald Berkowitz, a professor of plant science at the University of Connecticut\u2019s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, said the state has until July 1, 2022, to have a framework in place regarding how the sale of recreational marijuana will work.<\/p>\n

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Mike Lawlor, an associate professor at the University of New Haven, a former state lawmaker, said the state Department of Consumer Protection is responsible for developing the rules and processes governing the sale of recreational marijuana. Lawlor also served as undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning at the Office of Policy and Management under the Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.<\/p>\n

Training Students<\/h2>\n

Even if some Connecticut communities aren\u2019t committing to a future with the recreational marijuana industry in it, UConn already has embraced the business.<\/p>\n

The university announced in 2019 that it would begin offering a class on the fundamentals of cannabis horticulture, making it the first university in the nation to do so, according to Berkowitz.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is a tremendous need for knowledge for scholarship, in this business,\u201d said Berkowitz, adding that he has students he works with at the doctorate, master\u2019s and undergraduate degree levels. Even though UConn doesn\u2019t have a program devoted to the recreational marijuana industry, Berkowitz said his students \u201cget multiple\u201d job offers.<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn is very much a player\u201d in the industry, he said<\/p>\n

As the recreational marijuana industry grows in Connecticut, Berkowitz said it will be an employment driver creating \u201chundreds of jobs.\u201d Schools offering degrees focused on the marijuana business<\/a> include the University of Maryland\u2019s Pharmacy School and Clark University in Worcester, Mass., which has launched a graduate certificate in regulatory affairs for cannabis control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do that ourselves,\u201d Berkowitz said of UConn offering a degree focused on the marijuana business.<\/p>\n

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\"Glass<\/picture>
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Glass pipes for sale at Bangarang in Wallingford on July 16, 2021.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Arnold Gold \/ Hearst Connecticut Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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But he said administrators at many colleges and universities around the country are reluctant to take the plunge and offer such degrees because marijuana possession still is illegal at the federal level.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities have been extremely reluctant to do it (offer degrees in the marijuana business) because the grants they receive from the federal government could be shut down,\u201d Berkowitz said.<\/p>\n

Follow The Money<\/h2>\n

Mary Jane DuPont operates Bangarang<\/a> in Wallingford. The North Turnpike Road business currently bills itself as a CBD, hemp flower and medical marijuana accessory shop.<\/p>\n

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\"Hand-blown<\/picture>
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Hand-blown glass pipes by Mary \u201cMelt\u201d of Fairfield for sale at Bangarang in Wallingford on July 16, 2021.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Arnold Gold \/ Hearst Connecticut Media<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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But DuPont is uncertain whether she will enter the lottery to get the license necessary to sell recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still trying to figure it out,\u201d DuPont said of she and her husband. \u201cDo we really want to spend the $500 to enter the lottery, when there is no guarantee that we will be one of the ones to get the license?\u201d<\/p>\n

As it stands, experts interviewed by Hearst Connecticut Media also are mixed in their assessment whether the recreational marijuana business in Connecticut will be dominated by big corporations.<\/p>\n

Lawlor said the legislation Lamont signed into law was designed to give local businesses a chance at grabbing a share of the money that could be made, particularly those from communities that have been hurt disproportionately by state and federal laws governing the use of marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know one of the goals is to make sure there is equity for people who were on the short end of the stick of the laws,\u201d he said. \u201cThey (Connecticut lawmakers) have gone to great pains to make sure that it (marijuana revenues) are not all going to be going to big corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Berkowitz said the whole licensing and quality control process is very sophisticated and requires a level of expertise \u201cthat the average mom-and-pop business may not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawlor said he still believes some Connecticut people will make money working in partnership with larger companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of they day, it\u2019s going to be franchise owners that are going to to be making the money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n