State needs to fix cannabis licensing

If Connecticut wants to make some money, it really should turn the chase for cannabis licenses into a reality show. It could humanize the consequences racially imbalanced laws have had on individuals and communities for generations. Viewers could meet people trying to elevate their lives by launching the recreational marijuana industry.

There would also be a cast of wealthier characters seeking a piece of the action. That plotline includes a onetime commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and a former state senator who is now married to the mayor of Stamford, the state’s most successful city.

In the season finale, viewers could vote on which teams win a license.

It would probably be a more just system than the one Connecticut has concocted. There were early warnings from skeptics that there should have been a cap on the number of applications that could be filed. No businesses are even open yet, and several unsuccessful applicants have already filed lawsuits. There will surely be more of them.

The genesis of introducing the recreational marijuana industry was sound — give something back to those who suffered under an outdated legal system.

And collaborating with wealthy investors is something that entrepreneurs strive for in any venture. But there’s something wrong with this script.

One business in Glastonbury filed 850 of the 8,360 applications in the initial social inequity lottery (to secure those licenses, an applicant must own 65 percent of company and meet residency and income requirements). The Glastonbury enterprise was rewarded with two licenses. Another LLC, from Maryland, spent more than $200,000 to file 800 entries. That company came away empty-handed.

Like any Connecticut lottery, there is more than one game in town and none of them are free.

The chase for four microcultivator licenses resulted in three victors that filed 40 percent of the applications. One New Jersey company submitted 750 applications at a cost of $95,000.

Connecticut is not alone in facing the consequences of an application system that is not achieving the intended goals. Illinois had issues when first licenses awarded for the sale of recreational marijuana included no people of color. Illinois lawmakers scrambled to introduce legislation to increase minority ownership.

Legislators in Connecticut need to revisit the process. As it stands, the system can be gamed by investors with deep pockets. That can potentially create even more of a financial setback for the entrepreneurs struggling to be competitive before they are even eligible to open a business. Just one social equity application costs $250.

It should be possible to create a lottery system that limits players to one ticket each. Connecticut might prefer the revenue that comes with repeat applications, but it gives the appearance of a lopsided playing field.

It’s not hard to imagine a coda to this reality series in which former neighborhood dealers retreat in the face of corporate muscle and return to illegal street sales. As a business model, that one is hardly less broken than Connecticut’s.

It should be possible to create a lottery system that limits players to one ticket each. Connecticut might prefer the revenue that comes with repeat applications, but it gives the appearance of a lopsided playing field.