Connecticut Legislates Equity, but not a share of the Profits for Marijuana

In an effort to open the newly legal marijuana market to those most harmed during the years it was criminalized, Connecticut lawmakers set strict standards for who may own the emerging businesses.

But they didn’t legislate anything about profits.

Last month the state’s Social Equity Council approved the applications of 16 marijuana growers and disqualified 25. Several were disqualified for failing to satisfy a provision that says a business may have financial backers only if 65 percent of it is owned by a so-called social equity partner – someone who lives in a community with a historically disproportionate number of convictions for drug crimes.