Connecticut’s cannabis regulatory agency announced last week 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 Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), adult-use cannabis consumers will be permitted to purchase up to a half-ounce (about 14 grams) of cannabis flower or its equivalent beginning next month. 

The limit on purchases of medical marijuana 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.

The DCP noted in a statement that the decision to increase the limit on adult-use cannabis purchases was made based on an ongoing analysis of supply and demand in Connecticut’s regulated cannabis market. The agency also said that the limit will continue to be reviewed over time, adding that the caps are in place to help ensure an adequate supply of cannabis for both adult-use consumers and medical marijuana patients.

“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 from the agency. “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.”

Connecticut Legalized Weed Two Years Ago

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. Regulated sales of adult-use cannabis began in January and already generate about $25 million in weed sales each month.

Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis legalization statute tasks the DPC with regulating the production and sale of marijuana in the state. Under rules adopted by the agency before the launch of adult-use cannabis sales, purchases of adult-use cannabis were limited to a quarter-ounce (about 7 grams) of marijuana per transaction. The DPC’s change last week doubles the cap, allowing adult-use cannabis consumers to purchase up to a half-ounce of cannabis flower or the equivalent beginning on December 1, 2023.

The DCP noted that different types of cannabis products can be purchased together up to a total of a half-ounce of flower or the equivalent. Examples of what might make up a half-ounce of cannabis flower or the equivalent were also given via the following table:

• Up to 14 pre-rolled cigarettes that weigh 1 gram each, or 28 pre-rolled cigarettes that weigh 0.5 grams each. Or any combination up to 14 total grams, which equals 1/2 ounce.
• Four to eight vape cartridges, which come in .5 mL and 1 mL sizes.
• Edibles vary by type and size. A standard-sized brownie or cookie can be the equivalent of .08 grams of cannabis flower. One edible serving cannot have more than 5 milligrams of THC.
• A combination of different product types that collectively amount to no more than 1/2 of an ounce.

The law limits possession of cannabis to 1.5 ounces of flower by adults aged 21 and older. Adults may also store up to 5 ounces of cannabis in a locked container at home or transport it in a vehicle’s locked glovebox or trunk.

About 20 cannabis dispensaries have begun sales of recreational weed so far, including hybrid stores that sell both medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis. Last month, the DCP said that about 100 cannabis-related businesses including cultivators, packagers, shippers, and dispensaries were in the process of being licensed, including 46 recreational or hybrid dispensaries.

“There’s about 100 businesses somewhere in that licensing pipeline right now that are expected to open in the next year” throughout the state, Cafferelli said last month.

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People living in a conservative state with one of the worst state policies on cannabis in the country are crossing the border to illegally obtain cannabis in Oregon. Residents of Boise, Idaho, where cannabis is illegal, simply have to drive less than an hour to Ontario, Oregon to buy pot and officials aren’t happy.

The situation is proving something in real-time: that prohibition still doesn’t work. NPR reports that the situation has reached a “flashpoint” and it adds to the pile of reasons why eastern Oregonians aren’t accepting the changes that they’re seeing in their state.

Steven Meland opened Hotbox Farms in Ontario shortly after the city approved adult-use cannabis sales. “The politicians have been able to have this scenario where they say that they don’t have legal cannabis,” Meland told NPR. “But in all actuality we all know there’s legal cannabis in Boise,” he said, hinting that it’s obvious where his customers come from.

Hotbox Farms hardly serves Ontario’s 11,600 residents when there are over 700,000 in the Boise area closeby. “There [are] over a million people within a hundred mile radius of the store,” Meland added. “Of course they are serving a broader market.”

Politico explored the cannabis border phenomenon in Ontario in 2021. Ontario was once the home of the invention of tater tots, but is now known as cannabis central. Residents of the Boise area simply have nowhere else to go to buy pot. Politico profiled Brandon St. Germain of Cannabis & Glass, who reported a similar situation in which most customers come from out of state.

Don’t expect anything to change in Idaho, any time soon. Idaho is one of only two states in the country that bans all forms of cannabis. NORML gives Idaho Governor Brad Little an “F grade” as he opposes even medical-only cannabis bills—in disagreement with 88% of Americans—and industrial hemp bills. Meanwhile things have become so divisive in eastern Oregon that people there want to secede from the state.

The Urban-Rural Divide in Idaho and Oregon

Cannabis laws in the area are shaped by local culture. There’s quite a culture shock between the dyed-in-the-wool conservative culture of most areas of Idaho versus the culture of central Boise, where nearly half of residents voted Democrat. 

Things are just as divisive comparing eastern Oregon versus the coast. Eastern Oregon, home of Ontario, is home to deeply embedded rural culture with a proven track record. A group of people on the rural eastern side Oregon attempted to petition to secede from the fiercely liberal state and join conservative Idaho.

Things haven’t slowed down for cannabis, however. According to NPR, Ontario now sells more cannabis per capita than any other city in Oregon, employing about 600 people for the tiny town.  

Eastern Idaho leaders are trying to move the border of Idaho to secede from the state of Oregon, and pot is one of the reasons for pushing to do so.

“We have a little bit of a drug problem right on the side of our border,” said Rep. Barbara Ehardt, (R-Idaho Falls) at a recent hearing over House Joint Memorial No 1., a bill that would authorize Idaho to begin discussion with Oregon lawmakers about moving the border.

“A lot of Idahoans are going there [Ontario] and getting drugs, Ehardt said, “and that will be pushed hundreds of miles away.”

People in Idaho who travel to another state to buy cannabis for medical purposes are essentially cannabis refugees.

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