CT’s Recreational Cannabis Market Has Brought in $68M in Sales
Henry Cuzio of East Haven takes his order from Gabe Cruz at Rise Medical & Recreational Cannabis Dispensary in Branford, Conn. Cuzio was one of the first customers in the state to buy recreational cannabis legally. “This will be a lot easier,” he said. Ryan Caron King / Connecticut Public
Connecticut legalized recreational cannabis in 2021, but the state’s deliberate licensing process and careful oversight of local growers expanding their operations meant the first adult-use retailers didn’t open until January of this year.
Since then, the recreational market has brought in nearly $70 million, with sales steadily rising each month.
Several medicinal retailers were approved for hybrid licenses and became the first outlets to sell recreational products. New entrants to the market submitted applications to the state’s Department of Consumer Protection and were selected via lottery last year to apply for a limited number of licenses.
Among those new entrants were seven entrepreneurs who pitched investors on their cannabis startup ideas in a Norwalk hotel recently.
The presentations, each a tight six minutes in length, were the culmination of a 10-month, $1 million state-sponsored business accelerator program led by cannabis educators from Oaksterdam University and social enterprise trainers with Hartford-based reSET. Thirty entrepreneurs entered the program last fall, and 21 earned their graduation certificates.
