Nora Grace-Flood photo
Licensed dealer Ray Pantalena.
Wait until you get home to break into your stash, don’t eat or smoke it all at once — and please keep it away from the kids.
City officials offered those pleas a day before a watershed day: The scheduled opening Tuesday of the first legal recreational-marijuana dispensary.
The dispensary, Affinity Health and Wellness, located across the street from a drug-treatment center in the former Tommy K’s video spot at 1351 Whalley Ave., is one of nine cannabis retailers opening statewide under the state’s law legalizing recreational use for people over 21. Eager customers are expected to line up early in the morning for the first up-to-quarter-ounce buzz opportunities.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the city’s top concern is children’s health; he noticed that over the past year students have been sent to the hospital on multiple cases after sharing edibles someone brought from home.
At a City Hall press conference Monday, Health Director Maritza Bond urged customers to mind the “Three Ls”:
• “Lock it”: Store cannabis products at home out of reach of minors.
• “Label it”: To ensure that someone doesn’t ingest products by accident and then freak out or get sick.
• “Limit it”: Avoid overconsumption, a risk since it can take up to an hour or two for ingested cannabis to take full effect.
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
New Haven's first recreational cannabis dispensary, at Whalley and East Ramsdell.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson said four extra cops will be on duty to handle expected increased vehicular traffic.
He also warned people not to drive stoned. The law also prohibits anyone consuming weed inside a moving vehicle. Officers will conduct field sobriety tests to drivers operating cars erratically, the chief said; the department is sending someone for state training to become a drug recognition expert.
“We want to make sure everybody’s safe” on the road, Jacobson said. He also said cops will look out for people illegally dealing weed near the facility, citing the danger of overdoses from unregulated doses mixed with fentanyl or other harmful chemicals.
Affinity Owner Ray Pantalena said he expects to have pre-rolled cannabis along with vapes and flower for sale the first day. It was unclear at the time of the press conference whether he’d receive edibles in time for the opening; the in-state edibles producer has to work through extensive regulatory steps first, he noted.
Pantalena reminded people to bring IDs to the dispensary, and urged them to pre-order online.
Click here for details on the rules about the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis for health and safety tips.
And click above to watch a video of Pantalena and Jacobson answering reporters’ questions at Monday’s presser.
Health Director Bond: Remembers the "3L"s.
Let's go!!!! Just got my Cypress Hill CDs out of the basement. CatDude is ready for the heady 420