Connecticut identifies 16 cultivators in line for social equity licenses in the cannabis industry
State consumer protection officials on Tuesday identified cultivators who are in line for Connecticut licenses as social equity cannabis businesses intended to benefit Black and other underrepresented communities.
The Social Equity Council last week approved 16 applications and forwarded them to the Department of Consumer Protection for background checks.
Provisional licenses will be granted after the background checks are completed and the applicants have submitted information and paid a $3 million fee. Licensees may then set up their business and apply for a final license.
Gov. Ned Lamont said Connecticut is a leader in “addressing the inequities and injustices caused by cannabis prohibition.”
“We are ensuring those communities most harmed have an opportunity to be leaders in this newly regulated industry,” he said.
Lamont and the General Assembly enacted legislation last year allowing adult-use cannabis. The law includes a provision to recognize the government’s war on drugs that disproportionately prosecuted suspects in Black and other communities of color.
Qualifying applicants would establish their business in a disproportionately impacted area defined as census tracts that have had a conviction rate for drug-related offenses greater than 10% or an unemployment rate higher than 10%, as determined by the Social Equity Council.
About 200 disproportionately impacted areas were identified in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bloomfield, Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, Derby, East Hartford, Enfield, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Morris, New Britain, New London, Norwalk, Norwich, Plainville, Shelton, Stamford, Stratford, Torrington, Vernon, Wallingford, Windham, Waterbury, West Haven, West Hartford and Windsor.
The applicants would choose from among those areas to operate their businesses and the areas also would benefit from money raised by the state in the $3 million application fees that are dedicated to a fund.
The applicants are CT Plant Based Compassionate Care LLC; Insa CT LLC; Shangri-La Dispensary; Soulstar CT LLC; Nova Farms Connecticut LLC; The Flower House LLC; FFD 149 LLC; The Yard Connecticut LLC; Quinnipiac Valley Growth Partners LLC; Impact Initiatives LLC; MariMed CTP LLC; Connecticut Cultivation Solutions LLC; FRC Holdings LLC; River Growers CT LLC; Connecticut Social Equity LLC; The Cannabis Garden LLC.
Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.
