Liquor stores in Connecticut—not licensed cannabis retail stores—are selling THC-infused drinks such as seltzers legally, due to a legal loophole regarding dosages listed on the cans.

Cannabis retail stores are selling cans listed as one serving, but the same cans of cannabis-infused seltzer, usually running in sizes from 7.5 – 12 ounces, are labeled as five servings in a package at a liquor store or market.

All they have to do is ensure that each serving contains less than 1 mg of THC per serving and they can sell the seltzers without violating state law. CT Insider reports that when the drinks are labeled as five servings rather than one, they are technically legal to be sold anywhere in the state, so long as other elements of the packaging are in line with state rules.

“You can sell that in a local convenience store. It’s a seltzer. It doesn’t have any alcohol in it. It is a non-alcoholic beverage,” said Larry Cafero, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut executive director, and former Republican leader in Connecticut’s House of Representatives. “The manufacturer, in order to get around a Connecticut law, is creating stickers that turns a 12-ounce can that they had initially labeled as one serving into multiple servings, so that they could comply with the THC-per-serving standard.”

“So, we have this little loophole,” he said.

State authorities confirmed they are operating within the scope of law.

Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) clarified that the drinks are indeed legal. “A package containing less than 1 milligram of THC per serving and less than 5 milligram per package is not considered cannabis, and may be produced and sold without a license,” DCP spokesperson Kaitlyn Krasselt confirmed. 

Connecticut legalized adult-use cannabis in 2021 and later became available for purchase by adults at retail outlets in January 2023. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in June 2021, ending the prohibition on possession of cannabis by adults 21 and older and creating a framework for regulated adult-use cannabis sales. The bill also included restorative justice and social equity measures, including provisions that led to the expungement of nearly 43,000 marijuana-related convictions. 

“This is constantly evolving, and we realized as a committee that we’ve got to get further ahead of this so that’s why this session we’re going to be changing that definition to make it even just a more bright line rule,” said state Rep. Michael D’Agostino (D-Hamden), who is also chairman of the legislature’s general law committee. 

The current plan is to drop the THC limit to .5 mg per container, D’Agostino said. Any products containing more THC than that would only be available in licensed cannabis retail outlets.

“The question is, what is cannabis or not cannabis right now? The products that do not meet the definition, i.e. under 5 milligrams of THC per container, are not cannabis and therefore they’re not subject to the cannabis laws,” D’Agostino said. “But once we change this and lower the threshold, even more of those laws will apply.”

DCP issued further guidance recently to liquor stores in the state, clarifying that while THC-infused seltzers are legal to sell, they cannot be labeled as “cannabis.” That includes seltzers labeled as “canna-beverage.” As a result, some liquor stores began removing products from their shelves after receiving the guidance. 

The legislative session convenes Feb. 7.

Connecticut Doubles Limit on Cannabis Transactions

Cannabis consumers in the state are now able to purchase larger amounts per transaction. Connecticut’s cannabis regulatory agency announced in November 2023 that it is increasing the amount of cannabis that can be bought in a single transaction by doubling the state’s limit on recreational marijuana purchases. Under the new regulations approved by the Connecticut DCP, adult-use cannabis consumers will be permitted to purchase up to a half-ounce, or about 14 grams, of cannabis flower or its equivalent beginning in December 2023. 

Medical cannabis in the state is another story. The limit on purchases of medical cannabis has not been changed. It remains at 5 ounces of cannabis flower or the equivalent monthly, with no limits on purchases in a single transaction.

“DCP has continually reviewed available supply and demand since prior to the launch of the adult-use cannabis industry in January 2023,” DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement. “As more retailers, production companies and other supply chain licensees have come online, the capacity of the industry has increased. We are confident this measured approach to adult-use sales has resulted in a healthy market for businesses, and a safe and fair marketplace for adult-use cannabis consumers and medical marijuana patients.”

Details are being ironed out regarding where cannabis seltzers can be sold in the state.

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Adults in Connecticut will be able to start growing their own weed beginning this weekend as the state’s law permitting home cannabis cultivation goes into effect. Connecticut legalized recreational marijuana two years ago, leading to the launch of regulated sales of adult-use cannabis earlier this year. On Tuesday, officials with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) marked the impending legalization of home cannabis cultivation, which goes into effect on Saturday, July 1.

“Adults who choose to grow their own cannabis should use safe and healthy gardening practices for growing any products they intend to consume,” DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement from the agency. “Plants should also be kept indoors, out of reach and out of sight from children and pets.”

Adults Can Grow Six Plants

Under the regulations for home cannabis cultivation, adults 21 and older are permitted to grow up to six cannabis plants, including three immature and three mature, flowering plants. Plants must be kept secure from children, pets and others who should not be allowed access to cannabis. 

“We want to make sure the product is locked that’s something that is really important to us is keeping it out of the hands of youth we want to make sure the product is secure especially once its harvested because that’s when it will have most of the active ingredients,” Rodrick J. Marriott, director of the DCP’s Drug Control Division, said in a statement to local media.

Homes with more than one adult residing on the premises have a limit of 12 plants per household. Additionally, all plants must be grown indoors in a secure and locked area that is not visible to the public. 

“The cannabis plants must be kept indoors, in locked areas, secured from access from anyone other than the consumer or qualifying patient or caregiver,” added Marriott.

In addition to offering safe cultivation practices, the official noted that cannabis should also be consumed with care.

“Any time that you’re using cannabis you want to make sure that you keep it out of the reach of children,” Marriott said. “And obviously, we don’t want people to have their pets ingest it either, it can cause them to be ill as well.”

Connecticut Legalized Weed In 2021

In June 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation to end the prohibition of recreational marijuana, legalizing possession of cannabis by adults 21 and older and creating a framework for regulated adult-use cannabis sales. The measure also included restorative justice and social equity measures, including provisions that led to the expungement of nearly 43,000 marijuana-related convictions on New Year’s Day 2023. Licensed sales of recreational marijuana began at the state’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries on January 10.

Christina Capitan, an activist with the grassroots cannabis advocacy group CT Canna Warriors, notes that patients that depend on medical marijuana, which was legalized in Connecticut in 2012, were instrumental in the effort to include home cultivation in the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization statute.

“We pushed very hard for individuals to have the right to grow and not be reliant upon the producers that are licensed in our state,” Capitan told local media.

“What that means is that patients will have access to what they need,” Capitan added. “They will be able to grow the specific strains they need and the types that they want.”

Although state law legalizes home cannabis cultivation for all adults aged 21 and older, Capitan noted that some people, depending on where they live, may run afoul of federal law or local regulations if they exercise their state right to grow weed at home.

“You have to be aware if you live in federal housing or apartment buildings,” Capitan said. “You have to be aware of some of the regulations within your cities and towns.”

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Regulated sales of recreational marijuana began in Connecticut on Tuesday, less than two years after the state legalized cannabis for use by adults. Adult-use cannabis is now available at seven shops across the state, all of them existing medical marijuana dispensaries that have been licensed as hybrid retailers to serve recreational customers.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in June 2021, ending the prohibition on possession of cannabis by adults 21 and older and creating a framework for regulated adult-use cannabis sales. The bill also included restorative justice and social equity measures, including provisions that led to the expungement of nearly 43,000 marijuana-related convictions last week. The effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Connecticut was led by Democrats including the governor, who argued that regulating cannabis would protect consumers and help communities impacted by the enforcement of punitive drug laws.

“Today marks a turning point in the injustices caused by the war on drugs, most notably now that there is a legal alternative to the dangerous, unregulated, underground market for cannabis sales,” Lamont said in a statement on Tuesday.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in Branford, Meriden, Montville, New Haven, Newington, Stamford, and Willimantic were expected to open their doors to adult-use cannabis customers beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Two more, in Danbury and Torrington, are expected to open soon. Up to 40 additional cannabis retailers are expected to begin operations before the end of the year, according to media reports.

Transitioning To A Regulated Cannabis Economy

Adam Wood, president of the Connecticut Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said that Connecticut’s regulated marijuana industry is expected to create about 10,000 jobs for workers in the state over the next few years. He added that cannabis will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue that will be used to benefit communities harmed by nearly a century of marijuana prohibition.

“Today is historic, but the real story is about the benefits to come that will transform lives and communities,” Wood said in a statement.

Verano Holdings, a multistate cannabis operator with active operations in 13 states, entered the Connecticut medical marijuana market in 2021 with the acquisition of Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions (CT Pharma). The company launched adult-use cannabis sales in the state on Tuesday at its Zen Leaf branded dispensary, formerly Willow Brook Wellness, in the city of Meriden. George Archos, Verano co-founder and CEO, said that the company “is proud to stand alongside Connecticut residents in celebration of the end of cannabis prohibition.”

“Legal cannabis in Connecticut will have a positive impact on the economy and local communities, and we’re honored to celebrate this historic moment in the Constitution State,” Archos wrote in an email to High Times. “We’re grateful for the leadership of Governor Ned Lamont, the Department of Consumer Protection, local communities, our team members, medical cannabis patients and advocates for making this exciting day a reality.”

In addition to the Zen Leaf dispensary in Meriden, Verano’s operations in Connecticut include CT Pharma, a 217,000-square-foot cultivation and processing facility in Rocky Hill, and Caring Nature in Waterbury, a medical dispensary that will soon begin adult-use sales under the Zen Leaf retail brand.

Recreational Weed Purchases Limited To Seven Grams

Sales of recreational marijuana will initially be limited to purchases of up to seven grams (about a quarter of an ounce) of cannabis flower or the equivalent in other products to ensure that retailers have enough merchandise on hand to serve medical marijuana patients. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection will monitor supplies of cannabis in the state to determine when purchase caps on adult-use cannabis will be lifted.

The Botanist hybrid recreational and medical marijuana retail shop in Montville is operated by New York-based multistate operator Acreage Holdings. Kate Nelson, senior vice president of the company’s Midwest and Northwest regions, said that she expects the dispensary’s previous customer count of 200 to 300 patients per day to increase by about 150% during the first week of adult-use cannabis sales. But after the initial rush of excitement, sales are expected to level off.

“I think even before the 40 operators come online, you’ll start to see less of that excitement of something new and more so of kind of what the status quo will become,” Nelson said. “We’re in an area now in the country where there’s other adult-use states nearby. So it’s really going to be a focus of ours, in the state of Connecticut specifically, to make sure that this adult-use program has the product that it needs to have and we can support the industry … to make sure Connecticut sets themselves apart from other competing markets.”

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Connecticut’s adult-use law was packed with provisions to ensure an equitable industry, and now the state’s Social Equity Council has a new chairman.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced on Dec. 27 that he selected Paul O. Robertson, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), to serve as Chair of the state’s Social Equity Council.

The Social Equity Council seeks to ensure that Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis program is fairly represented, and ensure that funds from the adult-use cannabis program go to the right communities that are disproportionately hit hardest by the War on Drugs, according to the council’s Code of Ethics. Robertson’s new role begins when the seat becomes vacant at the beginning of next year.

“Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis program is at a pivotal time right now, and I appreciate the steps the Social Equity Council has taken to date to ensure that it is rolled out in an equitable manner as we envisioned when we enacted this law,” Governor Lamont said. “Paul will bring relevant experience and strong existing relationships with council members to his role as chair, and I thank him for agreeing to take on this leadership position.”

Deputy Commissioner Robertson succeeds Andréa Comer, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), as chair of the Social Equity Council. 

Deputy Commissioner Comer plans to depart her job at DCP and her membership on the council to take upon a new role as chief of staff for Treasurer-elect Erick Russell. That new role will be filled when he takes the oath of office on January 4, 2023. Per state statutes, the governor must select one of the council’s members to serve as its new chair.

“I am grateful to Governor Lamont for entrusting me with this important role and I look forward to serving the state in this new capacity,” Deputy Commissioner Robertson said. “Deputy Commissioner Comer has done a tremendous job leading the Social Equity Council to this point, and I plan to continue to work alongside its members and our partner agencies to ensure the adult-use cannabis market grows equitably.”

The Purpose of the Social Equity Council

The enforcement of cannabis laws disproportionately targeted certain communities, and cannabis minority ownership remains low, leading many states to adopt social equity provisions to make an effort to fix some lingering issues. 

In Connecticut, the state’s census tracts identify Disproportionately Impacted Areas to promote and encourage the full participation in the cannabis industry by people from communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition. The recommended tracts are available to see on the Connecticut Open Data Portal.

To qualify as a Disproportionately Impacted Area, those communities must have either a historical conviction rate for drug-related offenses over one-tenth, or an unemployment rate over 10%, as determined annually by the Social Equity Council.

The council provides credentials for all of its council members. The council, under Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis law, Public Act 21-1, consists of 15 members—seven of whom are appointed by legislators, four of whom are appointed by the governor, and four of whom are ex-officio members.

Other efforts are being made to right the wrongs of yesterday, such as the expungement of thousands of records involving cannabis-related convictions. Earlier in the month, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office said in a press release that records “in approximately 44,000 cases will be fully or partially erased” next month by way of “an automated erasure method.”

Connecticut’s adult-use law contained provisions to award the first retail licenses to individuals from areas most adversely affected by long standing drug policies, and to clear the records of those with certain cannabis-related convictions.

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Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday took a big step toward banning out-of-state cannabis advertisements within its borders, with a bill easily winning approval in the House of Representatives.

The measure passed the state House by a vote of 98-48, according to the Associated Press, which said that the legislation seeks to prevent “anyone without a Connecticut cannabis-related license from advertising the product and cannabis-services within the state.”

The Associated Press reported that billboard ads have recently appeared on Connecitcut’s border with Massachusetts, where recreational cannabis is also legal for adults.

The move by lawmakers comes after Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said last year that he wanted to crack down on those billboards luring customers across the border to Massachusetts.

Local television station WTNH reported that Tong had “reached out to the billboard companies and dispensaries directly with mixed results.”

The bill that was passed by the Connecticut House of Representatives on Tuesday builds on the state’s legalization measure that was signed into law last year by Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.

As in other states, parts of Connecticut’s new cannabis law took effect immediately, most notably the ability for adults aged 21 and older to have as many as 1.5 ounces of pot in their possession. Sales are expected to begin in the state next year.

When signed the bill into law last June, Lamont hailed it as a victory for civil rights.

“It’s fitting that the bill legalizing the adult use of cannabis and addressing the injustices caused by the war of drugs received final passage today, on the 50-year anniversary of President Nixon declaring the war. The war on cannabis, which was at its core a war on people in Black and Brown communities, not only caused injustices and increased disparities in our state, it did little to protect public health and safety,” Lamont said in a statement at the time.

“By allowing adults to possess cannabis, regulating its sale and content, training police officers in the latest techniques of detecting and preventing impaired driving, and expunging the criminal records of people with certain cannabis crimes, we’re not only effectively modernizing our laws and addressing inequities, we’re keeping Connecticut economically competitive with our neighboring states,” he added.

In addition to a ban on out-of-state cannabis ads, the bill that was passed by the House on Tuesday would also prohibit “Connecticut licensees from using images of the cannabis plant as well as from advertising on an illuminated billboard between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. and from advertising within 1,500 yards of a school or church,” according to the Associated Press.

“Look, I’m sick of seeing these billboards with cannabis leaves splayed all across them, within 1,500 yards across from a school or church or whatever. Can’t we do something more about that?” said Democratic state House Rep. Mike D’Agostino, as quoted by the Associated Press.

The bill also seeks to impose restrictions on “gifting,” through which retailers pay for a product like a T-shirt and are then given a “gift” of cannabis.

The practice has emerged as a go-to loophole for businesses operating in markets where cannabis has been legal, but regulated sales have not begun.

According to the Associated Press, “D’Agostino stressed that lawmakers are not banning people from giving someone a gift of marijuana, but rather trying to reign in these commercial exchanges.”

“You can gift to your friends and relatives. You can host a brownie party at your house,” D’Agostino said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

In his statement following the signing of the legalization bill last summer, Lamont said that the new law “will help eliminate the dangerous unregulated market and support a new, growing sector of our economy which will create jobs.”

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