Connecticut’s medical cannabis program has been in steady decline since the 2023 launch of the state’s adult-use market, but the systemic problems go back even further. With the 2024 legislative session underway, patients have not heard any indication that our lawmakers plan to do anything to help. I hereby present the following proposals to improve outcomes for Connecticut medical cannabis patients.
Switch to Using Actual Strain Names For All Products in The Medical Program
The time has come to finally do away with the fake pharmaceutical-sounding strain names in the medical program. The adult-use market has already made this change, and patients should not be burdened with having to use a Rosetta stone just to figure out the true genetic lineage of their medicine. Producers want this to happen, retailers want it to happen, patients want it to happen, and there’s no reason to perpetuate the farce of the fake names any longer.
Proactive Disclosure of All Remediation And Any Other Plant Adulteration on Both The Medical Product Label And The Corresponding Laboratory Certificate of Analysis.
In those rare instances when they even acknowledge the de facto practice, producers claim that remediation is beneficial and helps make medical products safer. If that’s the case, then they should also have no problem with truth in advertising. When someone buys milk at a grocery store, the label discloses that the product has undergone pasteurization.
It should be no different for cannabis remediation. Patients have a right to know what potentially efficacy-reducing processes have impacted their medicine before, during, and after harvest in order to make an informed and educated purchasing decision. Loopholes in regulations should not obfuscate the truth about the widespread plant adulteration currently impacting all regulated cannabis in Connecticut.
Normalization of Medical Product Pricing to Move Connecticut Into Alignment With Neighboring Markets
Regulated cannabis prices in Connecticut are significantly higher than in other regional markets. Identical products typically have between 200-400% markup in Connecticut as opposed to Massachusetts, etc. For the price of 3.5 grams of cannabis flower in Connecticut, a patient can buy 28 grams (1 ounce) when visiting our neighbor to the north.
Since Connecticut medical products are not taxed, this cost differential only benefits the producers. Retailers suffer loss of sales when patients source outside of the regulated market, and patients suffer the indignity and inconvenience of needing to look beyond their local dispensary just to get a fair price on their medicine. The price gouging needs to end.
Public, Subsidized Access to Cannabis Laboratory Testing For All Adults in Connecticut
As of July 1, 2023, all adults in Connecticut can legally grow cannabis at home. Accordingly, residents should be able to utilize the state’s licensed testing laboratories to analyze their home-grown cannabis. Since four out-of-state corporations enjoy full control of the cannabis supply chain in our state, they should subsidize any related costs for public access to lab testing.
As of March 2023, only a single cannabis testing lab is operating in Connecticut, and that lab has already gone on record as supporting this expanded access to their services. The director of this lab also confirmed his support of this proposal in a January 26th, 2024 email to the author.
About the Author
Lou Rinaldi is a medical cannabis patient and advocate who has been working since 2019 to improve patient outcomes through common sense, populist policy and education of Connecticut’s elected officials and public servants.
