Examining Connecticut’s Medical Marijuana Program by the Numbers

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

Connecticut’s medical marijuana program keeps growing. It is now up to close to 18,000 patients, being served by 669 different physicians and nine different dispensaries in the state.

By county there are:

---4,437 patients in Hartford County;

---4,217 in New Haven County;

---3,666 in Fairfield County;

---1,941 in New London County;

---1,109 in Litchfield County;

---1,105 in Middlesex County;

---865 in Tolland County;

---657 in Windham County.

The dispensaries are located in Hartford, Branford, Waterbury, Bethel, South Windsor, Uncasville, Bristol, and two in Milford. The program provides medical marijuana for adult patients with 22 debilitating conditions and for six different conditions for those 18 and younger. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

“We’re incredibly proud of the Connecticut medical marijuana program’s thoughtful expansion,” Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull said.

“Our program is the first pharmaceutical model in the country - and always had made great health care the number one priority. This program supports patients in Connecticut with severe debilitating conditions, and allows them to lead healthier lives,” Seagull added.

While the medical pot program is alive and well in Connecticut, efforts to legalize recreational pot in the current General Assembly session have so far fizzled.

Several bills proposed to legalize recreational pot never made it out of committee; though proponents still hold out hope it may get attached to other legislation as the June 7th end of session deadline nears.