MERIDEN — While working on his application for a recreational cannabis dispensary license, Nick Gulino was dismayed to see the number of repeat applicants.
“When I clicked that drop-down (menu) I saw dozens and dozens of repeated applications,” Gulino wrote in an email. “I realized the state has allowed these companies to stock the pond with an unlimited number of entries for the lottery.”
Gulino, a social equity applicant with a provisionally approved location at 28 W. Main St., said allowing duplicate applications hinders new businesses in favor of large, existing Connecticut medical businesses or out of state companies by requiring certain documents a new business wouldn’t necessarily have.
“I cannot fathom how our lawmakers consider this to be fair,” Gulino continued. “Based on how many applications had been submitted (overwhelmingly duplicates), a single application has something like a 0.03% chance of being selected.”
When crafting the adult use cannabis law, the state legislature did not restrict the number of applications a single entity can file. But it did restrict the number or licenses to two in any given category.
The practice allows the state to collect more in fees that are not refundable, as thousands of applicants wait for the first round of provisional approvals.
As of June 9, the state had received 36,414 applications for licenses spread among eight categories. The state’s Social Equity Council is currently sifting through Gulino’s and other applications to determine who moves to the provisional step. Multiplying the number of applications in each category by the license application cost, it is estimated the state has collected $10.5 million in application fees as applicants await the lottery results.
