By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Orange will get $108,035.67 in tax revenue from the first six months of operation of the town’s only marijuana dispensary.
That total is more than double what the town made in the first three months after Southern Connecticut Wellness & Healing’s RISE dispensary, which sells both medicinal and recreational marijuana, opened in late 2023.
Under state law, municipalities that host a dispensary within their borders are allowed to take 3 percent of all recreational sales. Medicinal sales are not taxed.
RISE’s recreational sales during its first six months came to $3,601,189.39, according to the state Department of Revenue Services. The dispensary made above $650,000 each month in March, April and May, more than in any of the three prior months.
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.