By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Orange reaped a total of $48,206.18 in tax revenue from recreational marijuana sales during the first three months of operation of the town’s only dispensary.
The revenue totals are from December through February, the most recent months for which records were available. Southern Connecticut Wellness & Healing’s RISE dispensary, which sells both medicinal and recreational marijuana, opened operations at 175 Boston Post Rd. in late 2023.
Under state law, municipalities that host a dispensary within their borders are allowed to take 3 percent of all recreational sales. RISE’s recreational sales during that period came to $1,606,873.01, according to the state Department of Revenue Services.
The total does not include medicinal sales, which are not taxed.
According to state law, the taxes Orange receives can only be used for certain purposes, including neighborhood improvements in the area where the dispensary is located; education or youth employment and training programs; services for those recently released from Department of Corrections custody, probation or parole; mental health and addiction services; youth service bureaus and municipal juvenile review boards; and civic engagement efforts within the community.
The dispensary’s route to Orange did not come without fervent debate from some residents. Orange had placed a moratorium on pot dispensaries in 2021, shortly after the state legalized the sale of recreational marijuana. Southern Connecticut Wellness & Healing successfully convinced the Town Plan & Zoning Commission to craft a narrow regulation tailored to the Bost Post Road location. The regulation change passed without much fanfare, but when the company came back to get approval for its specific business, it met with vociferous opposition from many residents – especially those in the neighborhood.
Ultimately, members of the TPZC – even some who did not like the idea of a dispensary in town – voted for the approval, arguing that the application met the criteria the commission itself had just established.