One Year In: Is Connecticut Overrun With Cannabis Dispensaries?

One year ago, retail sales of cannabis for adult use was allowed here in Connecticut. The outcries of the critics at the time were 'Not in my town" or "It's going to attract bad elements" and they were definitely paid attention to. 365 days later, do you even realize it when you drive by a cannabis dispensary?

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You may have noticed something different along Rt. 7 in Massachusetts if you went leaf-peeping this past season - Cannabis dispensaries everywhere. Dozens have been built along Rt. 7 from just over the CT/Mass border in Sheffield up to Great Barrington and North Adams, Massachusetts. Here's a photo I took last weekend of Farnsworth Fine Cannabis from Rt. 7. I have to say that Massachusetts has a 4-5 year head-start on recreational sales, but if you want to see what an under-regulated industry can do to a local landscape, look to Massachusetts. Connecticut has severely tightened the reigns compared to our Northern neighbor.

Have you driven by The Botanist on Mill Plain Road in Danbury? Again, if you don't read the fine print, do you even realize what they sell in there?

My point is, 1 year in, and it seems that the Greater Hartford area is the hotbed of Connecticut as far as cannabis dispensaries go. According to ct.gov, there are 12 dispensaries located in the Hartford/Manchester/Middletown/Bristol area. Western Connecticut and Fairfield County? Not so much: Two dispensaries in Danbury, 1 in Torrington, 1 in Waterbury, and 2 in Stamford.

Will cannabis dispensaries become more common around here? Absolutely, but not as common as package stores. Connecticut has capped the potency of the cannabis being sold in our state, and I think that, along with neighboring states that have gone recreational, will keep the more serious users away.