Experts talk cannabis in Westport, where recreational sale banned

WESTPORT — Despite local regulation that banned recreational cannabis businesses, a panel of six industry professionals came to Earthplace in Westport Thursday for an event titled CannaCurious? Marketing, Regulations and Social Equity.

The event, which was both in-person and livestreamed, was largely about the nature of marketing a product that is not federally legal and the challenges that come with it.

The Westport Planning and Zoning Commission passed a ban of recreational cannabis-related businesses in town last September, with an exception for medical dispensary facilities. At the time there were concerns that a recreational cannabis business may increase the town's traffic problem.

Westport does have a medical cannabis dispensary in town already, which has been open for over three years.

Event co-organizer Tammy Ward said that the group did not realize Westport's local position on cannabis retail sale until after they picked the location. She said they chose Earthplace because “it's a wonderful facility and connects to nature.”

“We'd be remiss to not be talking about the cannabis industry in its early nascency — there's a lot to learn in the space, especially here in Connecticut as we open to retail any minute,” Ward said.

Moderator Erika Alonso and six panelists from sectors of the cannabis industry, both regulatory and business-focused, shared some best practices and challenges with marketing the product. They also talked about the impact of current and future regulation on the industry.

Michelle Seagull, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, said

Connecticut's retail cannabis licenses may be coming later this year or in early 2023. The state legislature legalized cannabis last summer.

One hemp wellness business, a Franny's Farmacy, moved into a temporary location in town in January in anticipation of the state issuing licenses for recreational sale. Should Franny's be awarded a license, they said they will move to a different municipality like Norwalk or Bridgeport.

Seagull said that the state has two lotteries for retail licenses — a general lottery and a social equity lottery. In total the state received over 15,000 applications, over 8,000 of which came as social equity applications, she said. There will be just 12 licenses handed out at first and six of them have already been selected through the social equity pool.