On the day marijuana becomes legal, Conn. residents head up north to Massachusetts
On the morning Connecticut legalized the use of recreational marijuana, nearly half the cars in the parking lot of INSA Downtown in Springfield bore light-blue “Constitution State” license plates. The massive dispensary on West Columbus Avenue, which opened on June 1, is just about 7 miles from the Connecticut state line.
As of Thursday, Connecticut residents 21 and older are allowed to openly possess 1.5 ounces of marijuana and an additional 5 ounces of marijuana in a locked container. Recreational marijuana dis
pensaries will not become legal in Connecticut until late 2022.
But residents can hop the border to a state where recreational dispensaries are legal, like Massachusetts, where the first stores opened in November 2018. The state has clusters of stores in the western part of the state, including greater Springfield, Holyoke, Northampton and Easthampton, easily accessible by I-91. In the central part of the state, along the I-84 corridor, there are dispensaries in Charlton, Southbridge and Sturbridge.
INSA has two other stores, including an adultuse dispensary in Easthampton and a medicalonly shop on Cottage Street in Springfield. Its newest location is uniquely positioned to service Connecticut customers, as its downtown store is right off I-91. The building, formerly home to Luxe Burger Bar, is close to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and on the other side of the highway from the MGM Springfield casino.
The state-of-the-art dispensary features anything a cannabis consumer might need: flower displayed underneath glass domes, pre-rolls, concentrates, tinctures, chocolate and candies. A steady stream of shoppers filtered into the store, from college-aged customers to people in business attire to elderly visitors, as “budtenders” holding iPads consulted with people on the strains that would best fit their needs.
Employees at the store Thursday, who scan IDs for every entering customer, said Connecticut shoppers make up a significant portion of INSA’s customer base. But INSA co-founder Pat Gottschlicht said his team doesn’t track the exact numbers of Connecticut residents who patronize the store, though he said the store is designed to be able to handle high volume.
“We aren’t 100 percent focused on [where people come from],” he said. “We just make sure everyone is compliant, and that we follow state regulations...As more states legalize [marijuana], it’s only good for the industry. It just destigmatizes things. We’re really excited Connecticut’s made this step to continue the destigmatization of cannabis.”
Frank Carbone of East Hartford, who was shopping at the store Thursday, said he’s been driving over the border to buy marijuana ever since Massachusetts legalized it in 2018. He used to drive to NETA (New England Treatment Access) in Northampton, the first dispensary in Western Massachusetts.
Carbone buys pre-rolled products and edibles on occasion, he said. He said the change in Connecticut’s law is overdue.
“Growing a flower, smoking a flower, should not be a crime,” he said.
At Theory Wellness in Chicopee, which sells both adult-use recreational and medical marijuana, Courtney McDermott of Naugatuck waited in line for her first-ever dispensary experience. Theory is about 12 miles from the Connecticut border.
“I figured it seems like a good enough time to do it. I’ve been talking about it for a while,” she said. “Since it was legal as of today, I figured it was a good time.”
Thomas Winstanley, Theory’s vice president of marketing, said the company doesn’t keep data on its recreational customers, but estimates Connecticut residents could make up as much as 50 percent of the customer base at certain stores. Theory has Massachusetts locations in Chicopee, Bridgewater and Great Barrington, and Maine stores in Bangor, South Portland and Waterville.
“We do know there is a large proliferation of outof-state visitors,” he said.
Winstanley said as Connecticut ramps up for adult-use cannabis, it would have a “net positive” effect on Theory’s business.
“Any state that starts to make the decision to legalize cannabis is a net positive for the industry as a whole,” he said. “Every state that comes online is a validation for the industry, that has been persecuted for the last 100 years or so. This advancement for us is just so exciting to see.”
As more states legalize marijuana, it also opens up new business opportunities, Winstanley said.
“Our ears perk up, and we start to do our due diligence, and see if there’s a path forward that aligns with our business objectives,” he said. “Obviously we've been very fortunate because people in Connecticut know who we are, they’ve visited us, they've had the experience. Certainly, we wouldn't have had the success we have today without residents of Connecticut or New York.”