Three plants. One question.
Who decides whether a Connecticut patient may grow their medicine in the yard instead of the closet — the General Assembly, or an agency?
The problem
A program losing the people it was built for
Connecticut created its medical cannabis program in 2012 to serve patients with serious illness. It now serves 30,505 people — down from roughly 54,000 in October 2021, and still falling by about 214 patients a month.
Maine has 38% of Connecticut's population and reports 112,547 patient certifications. Maine's number went up last year. The structural difference is that Maine permits a registered caregiver to cultivate for a patient who cannot cultivate for themselves. Connecticut does not.
The patients being lost are largely veterans and seniors. Post-traumatic stress disorder is the single largest qualifying condition in the state. More than four in ten patients are 55 or older.
The proposal
A narrow ask
This project supports legislation that does not change how many plants anyone may grow. Three mature and three immature per adult, twelve per household — unchanged.
It does three things:
- Lets a licensed caregiver cultivate for up to five patients who designate them in writing
- States in statute that plants already lawful may be grown in a locked, screened area on the grounds of a residence, not only inside a dwelling
- Lets licensed Connecticut dispensaries sell tested seeds and seedlings to the patients whom current law expressly bars from buying them
Campaigns
The Cultivating Caregiver Act
A 2027 bill to license caregiver cultivation, clarify where lawful plants may be grown, and open the legal supply of tested genetics.
Read more →Criminal Justice Reform
Forthcoming initiatives on the enforcement legacy of cannabis prohibition in Connecticut.
Coming soon