{"id":4974,"date":"2022-03-16T12:37:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy53c2h1Lm9yZy9jb25uZWN0aWN1dC1uZXdzLzIwMjItMDMtMTYvY2FubmF3YXJyaW9ycy1wcm90ZXN0LXN0YXRlLWJpbGwtcHJvdmlzaW9uLXRoYXQtd291bGQtY3JhY2stZG93bi1vbi1jYW5uYWJpcy1naWZ0aW5n0gEA"},"modified":"2022-03-16T12:37:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T12:37:00","slug":"cannawarriors-protest-state-bill-provision-that-would-crack-down-on-cannabis-gifting-wshu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=4974","title":{"rendered":"‘CannaWarriors’ protest state bill provision that would crack down on cannabis gifting – WSHU"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At least 40 people gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to protest a bill that would crack down on giving away adult-use and medical use cannabis. <\/p>\n

Lawmakers testified in a hearing last week<\/a><\/u> that the bill\u2019s purpose is to target unlicensed businesses operating under false pretenses. But the bill also has language that would ban cannabis distribution at any event that charges a cover \u2014 such as the High Bazaar in Hamden, which uses its cover fee to pay for permits and on-site medical staff. The law, if passed as written, would also forbid any other sales at events where cannabis is handed out \u2014 including food or crafts. <\/p>\n

Christina Capitan, one of the organizers of the protest, argued these events are a safe and valuable part of her community.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a central location where we can come together to help one another,\u201d Capitan said. \u201cI have nothing to hide, my friends have nothing to hide, we\u2019re ultimately caregivers. And now we see that the state is trying to take that from us.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Terry Hopper, another protester, said he relies on these events because dispensaries \u2014 the only places selling cannabis currently \u2014 are prohibitively expensive. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had to pay $150-200 for a license, plus $100 a year just for the right to buy medicine, without even buying the medicine yet. And no other medicine is regarded that way,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cYou don\u2019t pay for the right to take insulin. You pay for the medicine. It seems like they\u2019re exploiting this for money.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He said he prefers these events because he likes getting to know the people sourcing his product. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the bazaars, you get a chance to talk to the actual growers themselves. And like I say, the shortest line between the farm and you is probably the best. It\u2019s the freshest. Like tomatoes or produce,\u201d Hopper said.\n<\/p>\n

Duncan Markovich, another protester, operates a CBD store and is currently working on his application to sell THC products. He said he feels that gifting events allow producers to communicate directly with their consumers, which leads to better-quality products. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to mass-grow marijuana the same way Budweiser makes Bud Light, you\u2019re going to run into botany limits with the logistics of trying to grow that plant,\u201d Markovich said. \u201cThat\u2019s the danger of corporate metrics and culture, and looking at numbers instead of people.\u201d
Copyright 2022 Connecticut Public Radio. To see more, visit Connecticut Public Radio<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least 40 people gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to protest a bill that would crack down on giving away adult-use and medical use cannabis. Lawmakers testified in a hearing last week that the bill\u2019s purpose is to target unlicensed businesses operating under false pretenses. But the bill also has language that would ban cannabis distribution at any event that charges a cover \u2014 such as the High Bazaar in Hamden, which uses its cover fee to pay for permits and on-site medical staff. The law, if passed as written, would also forbid any other sales at events… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut-cbd-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}