I came away a smarter person after attending NECANN’s most recent cannabis convention held this weekend in Connecticut’s capital city of Hartford. But considering the size of the show, which was held at the XL Center, calling the event a convention may be a bit of a stretch. With 120+ booths, the Connecticut Cannabis and Hemp Convention was by most standards a smallish trade show, and the aisles were rarely crowded, though local news did report that attendance was in the thousands, according to the organizer. But the fact that it was a small show did not diminish its value as a small show accurately reflecting a small Connecticut market. Likewise, the selection of seminar topics – which were divided into two tracks: Business & Licensing Operations and Wellness & Culture – and especially the individuals chosen to speak on them, provided a wealth of knowledge and insight about the serious challenges and many opportunities that still exist for cannabis businesses, actual and aspiring, in Connecticut.

NECANN Connecticut is the latest in the company’s ambitious schedule of events that continue in Chicago this June, in Augusta, Maine this August, and in Atlantic City and Albany, New York on different dates in September, followed in 2024 by Boston in March, Maryland in May, and Vermont TBD. Taken individually, each show will focus on the individual markets – which makes perfect sense in this state-partitioned industry – but taken as a whole by region or subject-matter, they also provides an opportunity for ancillaries, brands, license holders, and others, to expand beyond the borders of their home market.

At the event this weekend, for example, half of the exhibitors were reportedly from Connecticut, while half were not, and the list of sponsors included an anticipated mixture of local and national companies offering a variety of products and services covering security, legal, seeds, accounting, financial services, transport, retail, and marketing, to name a few. For a state whose adult-use market is only four months old, and with only 11 adult-use dispensaries and one delivery service in current operation, much of the business posture seemed to be aspirational in the sense that people are positioning themselves for business that does not exist yet, for dispensaries yet to be built, cultivation and manufacturing locations yet to be licensed, with the services and supplies they will need at some point in the future.

But for the businesses doing a brisk cash business selling seeds, or existing Connecticut dispensaries putting a human face to mostly MSO brands – RISE, CTPharma, Fine Fettle, The Botanist, Prime Wellness – most of the booths were taken up by the usual array of ancillary and professional services being offered to cannabis operators in any market – financial, consulting, accounting, legal, construction – plus a smattering of local entrepreneurs with Connecticut and/or cannabis-branded merchandise regularly be found in dispensaries or smoke shops, like pipes, accessories, and clothing. A few ancillary service providers said they had met prospective clients at the event, but even those without contracts or leads in hand said the ability to exhibit at a first-ever cannabis trade show in an embryonic market that can only get larger was enough reason to be excited about the opportunities to come in Connecticut.

That said, the enduring value of NECANN’s Connecticut 2023 event could also  be found in the panels, seminars, and presentations, which, along with a lot of useful information, generally offered a vision of a state that has essentially handed its cannabis business over to the most powerful MSOs in the country even with a social equity plan in place. How that came to be is a story steeped in political advantage as old as the state itself, but it could have been much worse. If any message came through about Connecticut, it is that the state’s cannabis story is just getting started and no one knows how it will turn out.

To that end, one state legislator who spoke on a panel, Rep. Anne Hughes, assured the audience that Connecticut is so small that it only takes a few people, sometimes one person, to make a difference. She said home grow, which was approved against entrenched opposition following public protest, only proves the point. New Jersey, she added by comparison, does not have home grow because its citizens failed to stand up and insist on it as a make-or-break right for people in the state. The same process will determine the future of Connecticut’s cannabis industry, she added, but only if the same people sitting in the room let their legislators know what they want.

Connecticut is not doing as well with regard to other issues, however, including not allowing people who had been arrested for selling cannabis to become eligible for a social equity license. Instead, the social equity designation is determined according to where one lived. Hughes noted that Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a vocal supporter of both cannabis reform and social equity provisions, had cited Connecticut as an example of social equity reform he does not want emulated in Maryland.

The keynote address by Jason Ortiz provided another example of the effectiveness of advocacy in Connecticut and beyond. Ortiz is currently the executive director of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) and board member of the Connecticut Working Families Party, and former president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA). A practiced and compelling speaker, Ortiz told the story of how, as a Hartford native, he was arrested for cannabis possession at the age of 16. It was an experience that awoke the inner-activist and propelled him on a career of public service, which included his involvement with the earliest efforts to legalize cannabis in Connecticut. Ortiz and his fellow Connecticut cannabis activists did not get everything they wanted from Governor Lamont or the state legislature, but they did succeed in advancing the ball down the field during most legislative sessions and continue that work to this day. If there was an overriding message in Ortiz’s presentation, it was found in his indefatigable optimism that literally anything is possible if you show up.

There were several other informative panels, including an instructive session on “Setting Yourself up for Success: Business Formation, Fundraising, and Buying or Selling a Cannabis Establishment,” because some people are looking to sell their Connecticut cannabis businesses; “Re-examining Shopper Data to Give Brands an Edge Online + On Shelves,” which offered recent research on the buying habits of Connecticut’s current and would-be cannabis consumers; a fascinating “Legacy to Leadership Panel,” moderated by Scheril Murray Powell, an attorney and CEO of The JUSTÜS Foundation, a non-profit founded by Steve DeAngelo that advocates for legacy operators; a riveting discussion on the work around “Indigenous Communities + Social Equity Businesses: Opportunities for Collaboration;” and a deep dive into “Healing PTSD & Trauma with Cannabis,” to name a few.

At the conclusion of the last seminar, a show organizer thanked the crowd for coming and said, “See you next year.” One can only hope that the optimism and energy displayed at the event manifests itself in the market, and that there will be enough new cannabis businesses created in Connecticut over the next year and beyond to justify another NECANN.