Connecticut Cannabis sales off to a modest start but growing

Posted March 16, 2023 on News Times

Dan Haar: Early CT cannabis numbers show no great haul for state coffers.

We're only two months into retail sales of cannabis to folks without a medical condition so it's way too soon to exhale any conclusions about how much tax money this new market will generate for the state.

Still, the early returns -- about $300,000 per week in state sales tax revenue -- tell us a lot will have to happen before we see any ganja gold rush. It's going to be a long time before the direct sales tax revenues from this new industry pay for all state costs.

"The Krispy Kreme moment that everyone thought the state was going to have...it’s a little bit behind our projections," said Ray Pantalena Jr., managing partner at Affinity Dispensary in New Haven. "Expectations were set a bit high."

Expectations by the state, that is, for revenues.

That pretty much echoes what I heard from Ben Zachs, chief operating officer at Fine Fettle, with hybrid medical-adult use stores in Newington, Willimantic and Stamford and the state's first pure recreational, social equity retailer in Manchester.