With stores opening around the state, you can go into a Connecticut cannabis retailer to make a purchase, but if you’re from out-of-state, you’re probably not going to find what you’re looking for on the shelves thanks to a unique twist in the state’s law.
Connecticut’s legislation requires all cannabis products and brands to have their names registered with and approved by the state and specifically states that names cannot be similar to any existing non-cannabis product, be similar to any “unlawful product or substance” and may not be similar to any other approved cannabis brand or product, all in an attempt to prevent cannabis brands from appealing to children.
But the legislation has created a unique and potentially confusing industry where the traditional names for popular strains sought after for years are not available in stores, even if the cultivars themselves are identical to those you can get in California, Colorado or neighboring Massachusetts.
So if you’re looking for some Wedding Cake, ask for “Auralex (H).” Blue Dream? You want the “Blue (S)” from Curaleaf or the “Sativarin D (S)” from AGL. Or if you want some Sour Diesel, make sure you ask for the “Fusiden (H)” from CPS or the “Gold (S)” from Curaleaf or even the “Deeziva (s)” from Theraplant.
That’s according to the Dabbin’ Dad website, anyway, which matches the Connecticut product name with its better-known strain names or lineage. There were 640 entries in the database by mid February.
“I do track them as far back as when the state medical program was still using numeric values,” Dabbin Dad founder Paul Kirchberg recently told CT Insider. “When the medical program first started, you weren’t even buying ‘Sour Diesel’ or ‘Sativarin X.’ You were buying ‘1515075.’ That’s what you’re buying.”
Connecticut’s recreational market began sales January 10 with nine open dispensaries around the state. Sales surpassed $13.3 million in January.
But no one bought Blue Dream.
— Brian Beckley