Beginning next week, students at the University of Connecticut have the chance to take a pioneering new course in cannabis horticulture. The course, titled “Horticulture of Cannabis: from Seed to Harvest,” aims to train students in all aspects of the cannabis cultivation process.

Importantly, this course represents progress on multiple fronts. For starters, it is part of an increasing focus on bringing scientifically-proven and evidence-backed processes to the world of cannabis cultivation. Additionally, the course is part of a growing trend in which colleges and universities are beginning to train students to enter the legal cannabis industry.

Litchfield County this spring will debut its first-ever medical marijuana dispensary in Torrington, about five years after city officials amended a key zoning regulation allowing local distribution of the drug.

Shortly after Connecticut legalized medical marijuana sales in 2012, Torrington created dispensary overlay zones allowing the retail clinics. The city's aim was simple: shorten commutes for thousands of local patients to access cannabis.

Those regulations piqued the interest of myriad entrepreneurs who wanted to open a dispensary; four received local zoning approval, and one was recently granted rights to open a facility by the state Department of Consumer Protection, which regulates the industry.

With the Connecticut legislature likely to consider the legal sale of recreational marijuana, advocates are pressing for racial equity in the emerging industry.

“We want the same opportunities that are offered other communities," Kebra Smith-Bolden, of Canna Health and Women Grow CT, "But when you look at states like Massachusetts or Colorado with not even a handful of minority-owned business in the first hundreds of licenses, we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed. So we got together to make sure it gets addressed here and now.”

Smith-Bolden and other advocates have formed a new group focused on achieving racial equity in ownership, employment and consumer access.

Nine new medical marijuana dispensaries are set to open up in Connecticut, bringing the total in the state to 18. 

The State's Department of Consumer Protection announced the locations of the new facilities Tuesday as part of Connecticut's Medical Marijuana Program.  The program has been expanded since 2012 when the a medical marijuana bill was signed.  In 2014, medication became available to patients.  

Today, there are over 30,000 patients with medical marijuana cards for 31 conditions.  In 2016, there were about 8,000 patients.  

Something that once could have gotten students in big legal trouble at college may now be a budding career path.

The University of Connecticut is in spring 2019 going to offer a new course on marijuana and what it takes to work in the industry. It is already causing a buzz.

“We ran out of seats before half of the university could register for the course,” Professor Gerard Berkowitz, who will be teaching the class, told the Hartford Courant. “There’s going to be more students taught in this one class than in my department, all the professors, all the classes they teach, both semesters."

Legal weed is catalyzing changes in all sorts of areas, many of which operate tangentially to the primary, plant-touching industry. Increasingly, that includes education. More and more, students seeking a “higher” education can learn about cannabis as part of their university training.

Most recently, University of Connecticut announced that it will offer a cannabis cultivation course during the spring 2019 semester.

We’re four weeks away from the November midterm elections, and obviously a lot in the political landscape could change on that day. Democrats could retake Congress, governor’s mansions could flip to a new party and so much more, writes Joseph Misulonas.

Now that Connecticut added eight new qualifying conditions for the state’s medical marijuana program, more people can access the medicine they need.

Connecticut recently underwent a potentially important round of changes to its cannabis laws. In particular, state lawmakers recently expanded the medical marijuana program.

Now, as Connecticut adds eight new qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, officials expect to see an uptick in the number of patients joining the program.

Expanding the Medical Marijuana Program

Connecticut’s Regulation Review Committee, a group of lawmakers that oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, recently voted to expand the program.

After last week's announcement that the New York Democratic Party supports marijuana legalization, it appears more state parties are joining the cannabis legalization bandwagon, writes Joseph Misulonas.

Seeing an opportunity for more business, Brown Paindiris & Scott is pressing forward with its marijuana law division.

The legislative session ended before Connecticut lawmakers considered a bill that would have legalized recreational marijuana use, but law firms eyeing that practice area remain optimistic.

Hartford firm Brown Paindiris & Scott, for instance, still sees enough opportunity to launch and maintain a venture in marijuana law. Despite limited medical marijuana use in the Nutmeg state, and at least another year’s wait before legislators again consider the possibility of recreational use becoming legal, two Brown Paindiris lawyers will continue to focus on that business line.