Medical Cannabis Patients in Connecticut Can Cultivate Cannabis on Oct. 1

Beginning October 1, medical cannabis patients in Connecticut can grow their own medicine, the Hartford Courant reports. Patients 18-and-older will be allowed to grow six plants individually and up to 12 plants regardless of the number of adult occupants in the home.

The reforms that take effect October 1 also outlaw giving cannabis “to a domesticated animal” and violating those provisions could lead to Class C misdemeanor charges.

The law is separate from the state’s adult-use legalization law, which was approved by lawmakers in June and will allow adults 21-and-older to grow their own cannabis starting in July 2023.

The law also includes new restrictions on tobacco use that ban smoking within 25 feet of buildings that cater to the general public, including restaurants and retail stores. Communities with more than 50,000 people must designate areas where individuals can consume cannabis, but the decision on where those locations must be is up to municipalities.

The law also bars smoking in hotels, motels, prisons, and psychiatric facilities, among others, and special smoking rooms that had been previously allowed by large employers will no longer be permitted, the report says. The general rule is that a person can smoke cannabis anywhere they can smoke cigarettes; however, towns retain the authority to make the final decisions based on local zoning rules.

Cannabis possession by adults under the broad legalization law took effect July 1. Those provisions allow adults to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis.

Earlier this month, Connecticut Commissioner for the Department of Consumer Protection, Michelle Seagull, said that the timeline for adult-use sales may be delayed, noting that while officials have “been suggesting that there will likely be sales by the end of 2022” they would “have to see how things play out in the next few months.”