Potential Connecticut social equity marijuana cultivators identified

Connecticut marijuana regulators have identified the 16 large social equity cultivators approved to take the next step to grow for the adult-use market, and have asked those applicants and their backers to submit additional information for a background check.

At least one of the applicants, MariMed CTP, has a marijuana multistate operator as partner: Massachusetts-based MariMed, which operates in six states including neighboring Massachusetts.

Several applicants list out-of-state business addresses, while the others are Connecticut-based, according to an MJBizDaily review of business filings with the state.

Kaitlyn Krasselt, communications director for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), referred to the entities themselves for additional information on operating structures such as MSO partnerships.

“The applications for the business owners and affiliated backers are still under review by DCP,” she wrote in an email to MJBizDaily on Wednesday.

DCP identified the potential social equity cultivators after the state’s Social Equity Council recommended 16 of 41 applicants to receive licenses.

That development prompted Gov. Ned Lamont to say the launch of the adult-use market could be only six months away.

DCP Commissioner Michelle Seagull said in a news release that provisional licenses will be granted once the background checks are completed and required information and fees are submitted.

That process is expected to take several weeks.

“Licensees then will be able to move forward with setting up their businesses and applying for a final license,” Seagull said in the news release.

Final licensees may build cultivation facilities totaling up to 250,000 square feet.

But the cultivation fee is a steep and controversial $3 million. The money will go into the state’s social equity fund.

The 16 applicants selected for the next step are: CT Plant-Based Compassionate Care; Insa CT; Shangri-La Dispensary; Soulstar CT; Nova Farms Connecticut; The Flower House; FFD 149; The Yard Connecticut; Quinnipiac Valley Growth Partners; Impact Initiatives; MariMed CTP; Connecticut Cultivation Solutions; FRC Holdings; River Growers CT; Connecticut Social Equity; and The Cannabis Garden.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/potential-connecticut-social-equity-marijuana-cultivators-identified/