As Connecticut towns decide on moratoriums against marijuana dispensaries, few residents speak up

When Jenny Maher thinks of marijuana retail shops opening in Connecticut next year, she sees Canton risking something if it doesn’t get in early.

“My fear is that surrounding towns will jump on this faster and we will lose out on this amazing opportunity for more tax revenue,” Maher told the town’s zoning officials in a letter this month opposing a temporary moratorium.

Betty Fiora took a different approach, telling the town, “I would hate to see Canton considered to be the big joke of the Farmington Valley and filled with potheads.”

Despite a lively debate with dozens of comments on social media, Fiora and Maher were among just six residents who formally gave their opinions to the planning and zoning commission before it voted unanimously to adopt a one-year moratorium last week.

And in that way, Canton has been similar to several other Connecticut towns where few taxpayers are officially entering the marijuana dispensary debate. Community Facebook pages and other platforms are frequently filled with back-and-forth arguments about the value or danger of allowing local marijuana retailers, but formal hearings so far have drawn small audiences or none at all.

Newington became the first town in the state to authorize a local retail seller, approving the Fine Fettle medical dispensary’s request to become a hybrid operation selling to both medical and adult recreational users. No residents spoke at the hearing before Newington’s zoning board approved the request.

In Southington, resident Stacey Dolan led a multiweek campaign to keep her town from banning marijuana stores. Despite getting a flood of support on her Southington Talks page on Facebook, the drive ultimately fell short of getting enough petition signatures to make this November’s ballot. Instead, Dolan is leading a new campaign to force a referendum in 2022.

Canton officials agreed that the town would be best served by refusing any marijuana store until September of 2022. They will give planners and town attorneys time to draft regulations about specifically where — if at all — such businesses will be permitted.

Fiora supports a complete ban.

“I think crime and break-ins would increase even more than they already have,” she wrote. “I do not want to drive on (Route) 44 with some of the 33,600 people stoned and out looking for food.”

Canton resident Jane Manna disagreed, saying the city should approve a store as soon as possible.

“This town stands to benefit greatly from the income dispensaries will pull in. Personally, I think the naysayers have deep-seated out-of-date ideas about cannabis. When they think about what a dispensary would be like they’re picturing scenes from a Cheech and Chong movie. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” she wrote.

Maher added that banning stores won’t stop people from using marijuana, writing, “The demand is here. It’s all around us. It’s even in Avon, where they decided on a moratorium. Avon’s loss can be our gain.”