Brant Smith has been fighting to get a license to grow cannabis since the state first legalized adult-use sales. He has lobbied at the legislature and argued in the press. He's worked alone and with his fellow hemp farmers to attempt to convince the state to grant him a license. Now the Cheshire hemp farmer has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the method Connecticut uses to decide who can open cannabis cultivation operations is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
"I think everyone has sort of had an understanding since the statutes came out in 2021 that there's something just not right, that they're a little unfair, that they're a little unequal and a little unbalanced," said Genevieve Park Taylor, the Westbrook attorney representing Smith. "Everybody gets a chance or nobody gets a chance, whether it's cantaloupes, cannabis or cabbage."
Connecticut has largely relied on a social equity council plan to decide who gets approval to open a cannabis grow or sales establishment. That plan grants preference to people who are from what's called a DIA, an area in the state that has been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
"For decades, the war on cannabis caused injustices and created disparities while doing little to protect public health and safety," Gov. Ned Lamont said in 2021 when signing into law the legislation that made adult-use cannabis sales legal. "By signing this into law today, we are helping our state move beyond this terrible period of incarceration and injustice."
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