State to award most pot licenses by lottery
Connecticut will soon open its first application windows for a few types of licenses in the emerging recreational-use cannabis program, the state announced last week.
The first application periods will open in February on a rolling basis through March. The application window will be 90 days for each of the 14 total licenses and registrations available through the medical and recreational programs.
Most license types will be awarded through a lottery system. The state plans to conduct multiple lotteries each year, Department of Consumer Protection spokesperson Kaitlyn Krasselt said.
Half of all license types will go to social equity applicants. Social equity status is determined by income and whether the applicant has lived in a disproportionately impacted area. The measure is meant to ensure that the new program benefits those who were most impacted by the war on drugs.
Other license types such as those that produce medical marijuana products that also want to participate in the recreational-use market, applicants who want to be part of an Equity Joint Venture or Social Equity Partner with a licensed medical producer or dispensary, and those who want to join the Social Equity Council’s Micro-Cultivator Assistance Program will not be subject to the lottery.
Here is more information about the types of licenses and the application process:
Disproportionately impacted area cultivator
The application window opens Feb. 3 and ends May 4. It’s a onetime, non-lottery application window for cultivators operating in a disproportionately impacted area, according to the Department of Consumer Protection.
Cultivators can “cultivate, grow and propagate” cannabis at a facility with at least 15,000 square feet of grow space, according to the state’s website.
Retailer
The application window also opens Feb. 3. The state will award six general licenses and six social equity licenses.
A retailer sells cannabis directly to consumers for the recreational use program.
Micro-cultivator
The application period opens Feb. 10. Similarly to cultivators, micro-cultivators grow cannabis for medical and recreational-use.
Their facilities are smaller, at 2,000 to 10,000 square feet of grow space.
The state plans to license two social equity applicants and two general applicants for micro-cultivators in the first lottery round.
Delivery service
The application period for this license type opens Feb. 17.
The state plans to award five general licenses and five social equity licenses for delivery services in the first lottery round. Delivery service licenses are for businesses that deliver cannabis products to consumers, qualifying patients or caregivers for medical use.
Hybrid retailer
With a start date of Feb. 24, this will be the last application period to open in February.
Hybrid retailers can sell both medical and recreational-use products to consumers. The state plans to license two general and two social equity applicants.
Medical dispensaries that are already licensed and want to add recreational sales will not be subject to the lottery system.
Food and beverage
The application window for food and beverage licenses begins March 3. These types of licenses are for manufacturers who add cannabis into food and drink products for recreational-use consumption.
The state plans to give out five general licenses and five social equity licenses of this type in the first lottery.
Product manufacturer
The state will open the 90-day window for this license type March 10. The Department of Consumer Protection plans to give out three social equity and three general licenses in this category.
Product manufacturers perform “cannabis extraction, chemical synthesis and permitted manufacturing activities,” according to a Department of Consumer Protection website.
Product packager
The state said it will open this application window March 17. It plans to give out three general licenses and three social equity licenses in the first lottery round.
Businesses with this type of license label and package cannabis products. Many states, including Connecticut, have regulations around packaging cannabis products so it doesn’t appeal to children, among other rules.
Transporter
This application window opens March 24 and is the last on the state’s existing schedule for the first lottery round. Connecticut plans to give out two general licenses and two social equity licenses of this type.
Transporters deliver products between cannabis businesses, laboratories and research facilities. Labs conduct tests on cannabis products to ensure they comply with Connecticut’s safety regulations.