A handful of prominent figures in Connecticut’s MMJ scene are batting around the idea of starting a trade organization to help entrepreneurs navigate the complexities of launching and running a medical cannabis business.
The proposed Connecticut Medical Cannabis Business Alliance could focus on everything from best practices and industry advocacy to hosting educational events and providing networking opportunities.
Erik Williams, the director of Connecticut NORML, spearheaded a meeting this morning to gauge interest in the idea.
Similar groups exist in some other medical marijuana states, such as the Cannabis Business Alliance in Colorado and the Evergreen State Cannabis Trade Alliance in Washington. These types of organization are often an integral part of any industry in the US, serving as a vital resource for entrepreneurs/owners and helping unite the business community. They are particularly important in the MMJ sector, which is often extremely fractured and divided at the state level. Medical cannabis businesses struggle immensely in the early stages of development, given the unique regulatory and legal challenges they face and the relative newness of the industry.
Connecticut’s medical cannabis industry is still in its infancy, and many of the companies needed to support dispensaries and grow sites do not yet exist. The state recently began the registration process for patients, but officials won’t submit proposed regulations governing the industry until next summer. That means we won’t see dispensaries until the end of 2013, at the earliest.
Under Connecticut’s MMJ law – approved by the state legislature earlier this year – up to 10 dispensaries can open across the state.
