<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\nState policy already includes provisions against cannabis advertising that targets minors.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Zachs, chief operating officer for dispensary Fine Fettle, said the move would harm business revenues. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis will stunt significant revenue potential for media companies and billboard companies that the state should want to thrive versus perish,\u201d the company\u2019s written testimony read.<\/p>\n
Equity joint ventures<\/h3>\n The bill also includes language that says a producer \u201cshall commit to create two equity joint ventures to be approved by the Social Equity Council,\u201d a suggestion from the council itself.<\/p>\n
The joint ventures are partnerships between a business entity and a licensed medical marijuana producer or medical marijuana dispensary that is at least 50% owned by a social equity applicant. Social equity status is determined by income and residency requirements. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of several measures designed to ensure those who were disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs benefit from the emerging market.<\/p>\n
Joint ventures aren\u2019t subject to the lottery system that most recreational licensees need to go through.<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9a Comer, deputy commissioner for the Department of Consumer Protection and a Social Equity Council member, said the intention was to cap social equity ventures at two. The change was based on feedback from the public and legislators, she added.<\/p>\n
Rep. Juan Candeloria, D-New Haven, questioned whether the language was sufficient to achieve its goal and ensure large multi-state operators that already have several joint equity ventures don\u2019t get two additional ventures.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n\u201cA lot of the current producers and the dispensaries are out of state,\u201d Candeloria said. \u201cOur intention was to ensure that equity applicants from our state have the opportunity to conduct cannabis businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multi-state operators have already shown interest in Connecticut\u2019s budding cannabis market.<\/p>\n
In the fall, Verano Holdings Corp., which operates in at least 12 states, acquired Willow Brook Wellness, Caring Nature and Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions, Inc., one of four licensed cannabis producers in the state.<\/p>\n
And in March, multi-state company Greenrose Acquisition Corp announced that it would acquire production facility Theraplant, in Watertown.<\/p>\n
The cap would aim to ensure Connecticut social equity applicants and businesses profit from the market.<\/p>\n
Several hemp farmers also spoke to the issue, asking that they be allowed to participate in the recreational market.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the current law as it stands, more than 99% of all recreational marijuana in the state of Connecticut will eventually be produced by large Multi-State Operators who are headquartered in other locations,\u201d said Brant Smith, of Hemp House Farms in Cheshire. \u201cThe farming community of Connecticut; who live, work, and pay taxes here, will be effectively shut out of this new industry.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/aside>\n\n\n
\n
Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.<\/h2>\n The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 88% of our revenue comes from readers like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You’ll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you publish it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hundreds of shoppers filtered through rows of vendors selling novelty art and clothing earlier this year at High Bazaar, a Hamden festival where a \u201cgift\u201d of a marijuana product often accompanied the items they purchased. But the High Bazaar parties are on hold for now, after the town of Hamden claimed permitting violations. And while a hearing in that civil case is scheduled for later this week, the state legislature is considering a bill that would outlaw such \u201cgifting.\u201d Join in the work of CT Mirror You may not be on staff, but you can produce the journalism. House Bill… <\/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":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175","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=5175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}