Legal Cannabis
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In June 2021, the Connecticut General Assembly passed and Governor Ned Lamont signed SB 1201, which legalizes recreational cannabis (marijuana). In subsequent sessions, other modifications have been made to address emerging issues and challenges. This toolkit is intended to lay out the fundamentals of the law, and specifically highlight relevant provisions for municipalities.
Overview
In general, the law allows an adult (over the age of 21) to legally possess up to 1.5 oz of cannabis. Specifically, it implemented a taxed and regulated system of licensed cultivators, retailers, manufacturers, and delivery services. In addition, the law establishes a
Social Equity Council to promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry by people from communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition. It requires the council to establish criteria and review social equity applications. As the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) is the primary regulatory of the cannabis industry, the law requires that they must reserve 50% of the maximum number of applications for these applicants, who generally pay 50% of the fees for the first three years.
The law also establishes guidelines, rules, and protections for employers and employees regarding recreational cannabis use. In addition, implements efforts to prevent underage consumption, as well as enhancement to public safety efforts.
License and Regulatory Structure
The DCP is responsible for licensing and regulating the cannabis businesses. Among the different licenses they are authorized to provide include:
Growing Licenses
• Cultivator – Grows cannabis for medical and adult use. At least 15,000 square feet of grow space is required for this license type.
• Micro-cultivator – Grows cannabis for medical and adult use. Between 2,000 and 10,000 square feet of grow space, prior to any expansion authorized by the commissioner. May apply for an expansion of grow space in increments of 5,000 square feet per year.
• Producer – Grows cannabis for medicinal use. Since the enacted of the new law in 2021, no new producer licenses will be issued. Producers interested in growing cannabis for adult-use may apply to convert their license to an expanded producer license.
Manufacturing Licenses
• Product Manufacturer – Performs cannabis extraction, chemical synthesis and permitted manufacturing activities.
• Food and Beverage Manufacturer – Incorporate cannabis into food or beverage intended for human consumption.
• Product Packager – Labels and packages cannabis in compliance with state statutes, regulations and policies.
Sales Licenses
• Retailer – Sells cannabis only to consumers for adult-use.
• Hybrid Retailer – Sells cannabis to consumers for adult-use and to qualifying patients and caregivers for medical use.
• Dispensary Facility – Sells cannabis only to qualifying patients and caregivers for medical use. No additional dispensary facility licenses will be issued at this time. Existing dispensary facilities may apply to convert their license to a hybrid retail license to allow for the sale of both adult-use and medical marijuana.
Delivery and Transportation Licenses
• Delivery Service – Delivers cannabis from cannabis establishments to consumers, qualifying patients and caregivers, as applicable.
• Transporter – Delivers cannabis between cannabis establishments, laboratories, and research programs.
Laboratory License
• Cannabis Testing Laboratory – A laboratory authorized to engage in testing and analyzing cannabis.
Municipal Authority
While the DCP is responsible for the licensing and regulations associated with the cannabis program, for a cannabis establishment to operate, they must first have local zoning approval. In particular, retailers and micro-cultivators must specifically obtain either a special permit or other affirmative approval from the municipality.
In addition, towns and cities are able to regulate certain aspects of cannabis locally, including the location of production, sales, and usage. Separate local host agreements, such as those entered into by municipalities and cannabis establishment operators in Massachusetts, are not permitted.
Those municipalities that decide to allow cannabis retailers, hybrid retailers and micro-cultivators in their community are able to receive revenues equal to 3% of gross receipts of those establishments. (Tax receipt details found in a later section of this Toolkit). For the first 30 days after cannabis retailers or hybrid retailers open, to charge up to $50,000 for reasonable municipal costs for public safety services related to the opening (such as for directing traffic).
Cities and towns have four options regarding zoning regulations and cannabis establishments:
1. Take no action
2. Zone for it
3. Zone against it
4. Implement a moratorium
The chief zoning official of each municipality is required to report any changes to zoning adopted by the municipality regarding cannabis establishments to DCP and the Office of Policy Management (OPM) within 14 days of taking such action.
Municipalities have the authority to regulate cannabis sales and use within their borders in the following ways:
1) Hold a Local Referendum
Upon the petition of 10% of the voters, a referendum must be held on whether to allow recreational marijuana sales or whether to allow certain types of cannabis businesses. (CGS §83(a))
The ballot questions should phrase as:
• “Shall the sale of recreational marijuana be allowed in [MUNICIPALITY]?” or;
• “Shall the sale of cannabis under (Specified license or licenses) be allowed in [MUNICIPALITY]?”; or
• “Shall the sale of recreational marijuana be prohibited (No Licenses) in [MUNICIPALITY]?”
2) Implement Local Zoning Change
Municipalities may amend zoning regulations or enact local ordinances to take the following actions regarding cannabis establishments:
• Prohibit their establishment;
• Reasonably restrict their hours or signage;
• Restrict their proximity to public or parochial schools, charitable institutions, hospitals, veterans’ homes, or certain military establishments or religious institutions;
• Only permit certain types of cannabis establishments in a municipality.
The law generally prohibits any restrictions on cannabis establishment hours, zoning, or signage from applying to existing businesses until five years after the restriction is adopted. This does not apply if the business converts to a different license type.
If a municipality takes no action through ordinance or zoning regulations, these establishments must be zoned as similar uses would be.
When zoning against cannabis establishments, municipalities may amend their zoning regulations or local ordinances to prohibit all cannabis establishments, or subject existing cannabis establishments (i.e. medical marijuana establishments) to operate, or prevent them converting to a different license type for a period of five years from the adoption of the ban on cannabis establishments.
Towns and cities, through zoning, can implement a six month or one-year moratorium on permitting new cannabis establishments in any zone in their municipalities. The rationale is that municipal leaders need some time to consider the ramifications of the law on their communities and to implement the appropriate legal structures to regulate or prohibit such establishments.
Municipalities may:
• Require cannabis establishments to be located more than a certain amount from certain facilities;
• Limit retail establishments to commercial zones;
• Limit production facilities to industrial zones;
• Limit hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays: or
• Require minimum or maximum number of parking spaces; front, side and rear yard requirements; maximum building coverage and more.
Municipalities may not:
• Prohibit the delivery of cannabis to (1) consumers or (2) qualifying medical marijuana patients or their caregivers, if the delivery is made by someone authorized to do so under the bill (e.g., retailers, dispensary facilities, or delivery services);
• Prohibit the transport of cannabis to, from, or through the municipality by anyone licensed or registered to do so;
• Prohibit the delivery of cannabis when the delivery is made by a retailer, hybrid retailer, dispensary facility, delivery service, micro-cultivator or other person authorized to make such delivery pursuant to the Cannabis Act;
• Condition any official action on, or accepting any donations from, any cannabis establishment or applicants for cannabis establishment licenses in the municipality;
• Negotiate or enter into a local host agreement with a cannabis establishment or license applicant.
Municipal Ordinances Banning Consumption In Municipally-Owned Spaces
Municipalities may regulate, on any property owned by the municipality, and any property that a municipality controls but does not own, any activity deemed to be deleterious to public health, including the lighting
or carrying of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, or similar device. Property that a municipality controls (but may not own) includes, but is not limited to, sidewalks, parks, beaches, municipal land and buildings, etc. The regulatory authority applies to smoked or vaped tobacco or cannabis and other types of cannabis use or consumption.
For municipalities with a population of 50,000 or more, if the city decides to regulate the public use of cannabis, the municipality must designate a location in the community where public consumption is allowed. This does not require that these municipalities provide for a location where any or all forms of cannabis can be consumed, but only some forms of cannabis can be consumed. The most common forms of consumption are smoking, vaping and edibles. Through these regulations, municipalities may set fines for violations by individuals regarding outdoor consumption of cannabis up to $50.
Municipalities are permitted to ban cannabis smoking and vaping at outdoor sections of restaurants. Through regulations, cities and towns may set fines for violations of up to $1,000 for businesses who allow cannabis smoking or vaping contrary to the regulation of the municipality.
Below is a map of the current municipal zoning regarding cannabis sales (As of June 2025).
Taxation
A cannabis tax is imposed on retail sales of cannabis plant materials, cannabis edible products, and cannabis (other than cannabis plant material or cannabis edible products) by a cannabis retailer, hybrid retailer, or micro cultivator and is based upon the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per milligram of the products. The rate is:
1. $0.00625 per milligram of THC in raw, flower cannabis;
2. $0.0275 per milligram of THC in edibles; and 3. $0.009 per milligram of THC in other cannabis products.
These rates are in addition to the state’s standard 6.35% sales tax would also apply to cannabis sales. The appropriation of the cannabis taxes (as of 2024) is intended to be allocated as follows:
• During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, 100% of the excise tax would be directed to the Cannabis Regulatory and Investment Account.
• During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, 100% of the excise tax would be directed to the General Fund.
• Starting on July 1, 2023 and thereafter, 25% of the excise tax would go to the Prevention and Recovery Services Fund.
• From July 1, 2023 until June 30, 2026, 60% of the excise tax would go to the Social Equity and Innovation Fund. On July 1, 2026, that would increase to 65%. Beginning on July 1, 2028, it would increase again, and would remain at 75%.
• The remainder of the tax — ranging from 15% in the last half of 2023 to 0% starting on July 1, 2028 — would go to the General Fund.
Municipal Tax Allocation
The law imposes a 3% municipal gross receipts tax (in addition to the standard state’s sales tax) on the sale of cannabis and cannabis products. The municipal sales tax is administered through the Department of Revenue Services (DRS), though the municipality is responsible for collecting the appropriate amounts as identified by DRS.
Each municipality with a cannabis retailer, hybrid retailer or micro-cultivator must submit to DRS, at least annually, the name and contact information of the individual designated to receive notifications regarding the tax. The DRS Commissioner will then notify the designee of the tax amount reported due from the retailers.
Municipal marijuana sales tax revenue must be used for one or more of the following:
• Streetscape improvements and other neighborhood developments in communities where cannabis or hybrid retailers or micro-cultivators are located
• Youth employment and training programs in these municipalities
• Services for individuals living in these municipalities who were released from DOC custody, probation, or parole
• Mental health or addiction services
• Youth services bureaus
• Community civic engagement efforts
Taxes are based upon the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per milligram of the products.
Signage
Current law prohibits anyone other than a cannabis establishment licensee from advertising any cannabis or related services in the state. For licensed cannabis establishments, there are certain advertising restrictions and other prohibitions.
The law prohibits cannabis establishments from advertising:
• Cannabis products in a way that targets those under age 21 (e.g., by using toys, characters, or cartoon characters to suggest that underage individuals are present), or by using any image or other visuals of the cannabis plant or part of it, including the leaf;
• Cannabis products in a way that implies they have curative or therapeutic effects;
• Cannabis products in any physical form visible to the public within 500 feet of elementary or secondary school grounds, a recreation center or facility, a childcare center, a playground, a public park, or a library.
• In public vehicles, or at bus stops, taxi stands, transportation waiting areas, train stations, airports, or other similar transportation venues;
• On billboards within 1,500 feet of elementary or secondary school grounds, houses of worship, recreation centers or facilities, child care centers, playgrounds, public parks, or libraries.
• By television, radio, internet, mobile applications, social media, other electronic communication, billboard or other outdoor signage, or print publication unless the establishment has reliable evidence that at least 90% of the advertisement’s audience is reasonably expected to be age 21 or older;
• Through location-based devices, including cellphones, unless the marketing is a mobile device application that the owner, who is age 21 or older, installed on the phone and includes a permanent and easy opt-out feature and warnings that cannabis use is restricted to those age 21 and older.
The law also prohibits cannabis establishments from:
• Sponsoring charitable, sports, musical, artistic, cultural, social, or other similar events, without reliable evidence that not more than 10% of the audience is expected to be under age 21;
• Advertising to encourage transporting cannabis across state lines or other illegal activity;
• A cannabis facility displaying or advertising the words “drug store,” “pharmacy,” “apothecary,” “drug,” “drugs,” or “medicine shop,” or any combination of these
• terms or other words, displays, or symbols indicating that the business is a pharmacy;
• Displaying cannabis, cannabis products, or any image depicting cannabis, including the leaf, that are clearly visible to someone outside of the facility used to operate the cannabis establishment;
• Using radios or loudspeakers, in a vehicle or in or outside the facility used to operate the cannabis establishment, to advertise the sale of cannabis or cannabis products; and
• Operating any website advertising or depicting cannabis, cannabis products, or cannabis paraphernalia unless the website verifies the entrants or users are age 21 or older.
Outdoor signage is allowed to:
• Warn against underage use;
• Ensure that the audience/patrons are expected to be at least age 21.
• Contains only the cannabis establishment’s name and logo;
• Has (a) no image or other visual representation of the cannabis plant or part of it, including the leaf, and (b) no more than three colors;
• Is located on (a) the cannabis establishment’s premises, whether leased or owned, or (b) a commercial property occupied by multiple tenants, including the cannabis establishment.
In addition to advertising and other restrictions, the law requires cannabis establishments’ advertisements to have the following warning: “Do not use cannabis if you are under twenty-one years of age. Keep cannabis out of the reach of children.” Specifically, for print or visual mediums, the warning must be conspicuous, easily legible, and take up at least 10% of the advertisement space. For an audio medium, the warning must be at the same speed as the rest of the advertisement and be easily intelligible.
Employment & Labor Issues
In general, the cannabis law prohibits many employers from disciplining employees, or denying employment to applicants for off-duty recreational marijuana use, as long as the employee is not intoxicated while at work. The law includes specific limitations on what some employers can, and cannot do, when their employees use cannabis.
The law identifies several classes of “exempted employers” that are not subject to the cannabis protections in the law. Exempted employees/ employers include:
• Utilities - including electric power generation and distribution and water and sewer systems
• Transportation - Positions that require driving a motor vehicle for which federal or state law requires an employee to submit to screening tests, including any position requiring a commercial driver’s license;
• Construction and manufacturing services
• Educational services, including K-12 schools
• Health Care or Social Services
• Justice and public safetyFirefighters, police officers, EMTs and other public safety employees
• Positions that are funded in whole or in part by a federal grant
Depending on whether an employer/employee is exempt or not determines what protections and allowances are afforded under the cannabis law.
Employers may continue to take adverse employment action based on recreational marijuana use provided a written policy is in effect to prohibit such use. For specific instances of suspected cannabis use, while a written policy is not required to support reasonable suspicion drug testing, it is encouraged. The law also allows employers to take adverse action against an employee who fails a reasonable suspicion drug test for marijuana, even if the employer has not implemented a written policy.
An employee may bring a private right of action in Superior Court for violations of any employment protections provided in the cannabis law. There is a 90-day statute of limitation from the date of the violation. Damages may include reinstatement, back pay and/or attorney’s fees. However, an employee cannot bring a legal action
against an employer who acted on a good-faith belief that (a) the employee used or possessed marijuana (except medicinal marijuana) in the workplace, while performing job duties, during work hours, or while on call in violation of the employer’s employment policy; or (b) due to marijuana use, the employee was unfit for duty or impaired or under the influence of marijuana while at the employer’s workplace, while performing the employee’s job during work hours, or while on
call in violation of the employer’s workplace drug policy.
Recouping of Public Service Costs
Municipalities may charge a retailer or hybrid retailer for any necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the municipality for public safety services, including costs to direct traffic, relating to the opening of the establishment. Municipalities may charge retailers for expenses
incurred only in the first 30 days after opening, and charges may not exceed $50,000 (Sec. 83 (d)).
The sale of cannabis without a license is a per se violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act, which allows municipalities to bring an action in court. If the municipal CEO determines that a business is operating in violation of the law or poses an immediate threat to public health and safety, you may apply to the superior court for an order to take possession of prohibited merchandise.
The law also imposes liability upon any person who aids or abets a violation of the statute and imposes a civil penalty of $30,000 for each violation. In addition, it imposes liability on commercial landlords who knowingly rent or lease property to a business selling cannabis products and imposes a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation; Municipalities may recover their costs by instituting a legal action. Specifically, half the remainder of the civil penalty is payable to the impacted municipality, while the other half shall go to the State General Fund.
Social Equity Council
The Social Equity Council (SEC) was created to promote and encourage full participation in the cannabis industry by people and communities disproportionately harmed by the “War on Drugs.” In addition, they are responsible for supporting broad-based economic reinvestment in those targeted communities. The SEC is comprised of 17 members, seven (8) of whom are appointed by legislators, four (5) of whom are appointed by the governor, and four (4) of whom are ex-officio members. The SEC is administered within the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).
Specifically, the SEC responsible for certifying which geographic areas qualify for social equity program
under the new adult-use cannabis law Disproportionately Impacted Areas (DIAs).
The SEC is responsible for reviewing workforce development plans, social equity joint ventures, cannabis license applications. The SEC continues to recommend the creation of programs to ensure that individuals from communities that have been disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition and enforcement are provided equal access to licenses for cannabis establishments by (a) establishing additional qualifications for Social Equity Applicants (SEAs), (b) providing for expedited or priority license processing for Social Equity Applicants (SEAs), and (c) establishing minimum criteria for any licensed cannabis establishment to comply with a workforce development plan to reinvest or provide employment and training opportunities for individuals in DIAs.
Further Resources:
https://cloudshare.ccm-ct.org/index.php/s/nj7XX76snGPObDr
• Model ordinances:
• Zone for establishment
• Zone against establishments
• Implement moratorium
• Ordinance for usage
• Cultivator zoning/allowance
• Map of state outlining zoning: https://public.tableau.com/app/ profile/max.friedman/viz/CannabisZoningMap/MunicipalZoningofCannabisSales
• Other info graphs or statistics: https://portal.ct.gov/cannabis/knowledge-base/articles/ statistics-and-documents?language=en_US
CCM is the state’s largest, nonpartisan organization of municipal leaders, representing towns and cities of all sizes from all corners of the state, with 166 member municipalities.
We come together for one common mission — to improve everyday life for every resident of Connecticut. We share best practices and objective research to help our local leaders govern wisely. We advocate at the state level for issues affecting local taxpayers. And we pool our buying power to negotiate more cost-effective services for our communities.
CCM is governed by a board of directors that is elected by the member municipalities. Our board represents municipalities of all sizes, leaders of different political parties, and towns/cities across the state. Our board members also serve on a variety of committees that participate in the development of CCM policy and programs.
Federal representation is provided by CCM in conjunction with the National League of Cities. CCM was founded in 1966.
