Connecticut
Connecticut faces flower shortage
Connecticut had a smoking hot year when it comes to cannabis sales. So good that the state’s dispensaries aren’t sitting on much inventory at the moment.
According to a recent report from Cannabis Benchmarks, supplies for both adult-use and medical dispensaries have been shrinking in the state – and prices have risen as a result.
Consumers celebrated the state’s decision to increase the limits on cannabis purchases as of Dec. 1, and they responded by buying a lot more cannabis. Prior to that date, they could only buy a quarter-ounce, but the new rule upped that limit to a half-ounce of flower or its equivalent in other products.
In December, the state reported sales of 453,944 products in the adult-use market, up 13.4% month-on-month. Medical products sold in December totaled 291,133, up 3.4% from the prior month.
Prices began spiking in the new year, and Cannabis Benchmarks reported that “consumers and registered patients in the state have told of a lack of inventory in dispensaries at the moment, with only a handful of varieties of flower on offer compared to the usual several dozen.”
Kaitlyn Krasselt, communications director with the Connecticut State Department of Consumer Protection, told Cannabis Benchmarks, “The Department is aware of a limited variety of certain products, and is continuing to monitor the situation.”
“The limited variety is likely the result of promotional sales retailers ran in association with the holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s,” Krasselt continued. “Anecdotally, we know retailers experienced heavy traffic in relation to the holidays, and the record sales in our December data supports that. ”
But consumers also have something to look forward to, according to the agency. Kresselt said, “More than 1,000 products have received brand registration approval from the Drug Control Division since Nov. 1, 2023, that are expected to be available in stores in the coming days and weeks.”
Demand High, Supply Low
Fine Fettle, which has several stores in the state, confirmed the shortage.
“Right now we are supply constrained,” Chief Operating Officer Ben Zachs said. “A number of dispensaries have opened and only one microprocessor is growing. We’ve opened more stores and there’s definitely been a lack of flower supply.”
While sales figures were up in the state in December, Zachs said much of that was due to the higher prices. “The actual volume of sales only went up 3%.”
However, he believes hope is on the way. “My understanding is there are microgrowers building and big growers building,” he said. Zachs hopes the problem will be resolved in six to eight months, adding that these things happen in new markets.
“More demand and more stores opening has spread the inventory thin,” Zachs said. “Before it was a lack of choice, now some stores have no flower.”
He also pointed out that overall, flower and pre-rolls only accounted for 50% of sales, which is comparatively low for newer markets.
Even as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I have a relatively open mind when it comes to pizza. When I’m out on the road, I’ll eat at any pizzeria as long as I can see the oven from the counter and buy pizza by the slice. However, the idea of any place outside the Big Apple proclaiming itself “the Pizza Capital of the United States” is just sacrilege. Connecticut doubled down on its ludicrous claim last weekend by approving the rollout of a special “Pizza State” license plate. This is the worst affront to the craft since Chicagoans started shilling their crust-bowl casserole as pizza.
Connecticut Foodshare
Let’s actually take a look at this license plate. One peek, we all know the rules. “The Pizza State” plate features a similar blue-to-white gradient as on the standard Connecticut license plate. The aforementioned self-proclaimed moniker replaces the state’s official nickname, “The Constitution State,” beneath the plate number. To the right of the number is an image of a pizza slice ripped straight from Microsoft’s ClipArt library. It’s a flat image that looks nothing like what’s served in New Haven. Connecticut drivers will be able to pick up a “Pizza State” plate for $65.
This is a pizza war for good
The only undisputedly good aspect of the “Pizza State” license plate is that its introduction will help feed Connecticut’s hungry. According to CT Insider, the $28.6 billion budget bill approved by the Connecticut General Assembly last weekend, which authorized the plate, also directly appropriated funding to Connecticut Foodshare. The sitewide food bank will also receive $50 from each $65 license plate fee, as it continues to provide millions of free meals to food-insecure people.
Back to the pizza debate at the heart of the matter. Governor Ned Lamont declared Connecticut the country’s pizza capital back in 2024 as part of a marketing campaign to promote the state. That declaration could have grounds for war in a different century, but individual states apparently don’t fight wars against each other anymore. Connecticut had better go back to being a UConn Husky-obsessed suburb before New York makes Greenwich the next Toledo.
Connecticut
Suspect in preppy booze-fueled Connecticut party stabbing death asks court to drop charges: ‘Double jeopardy’
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The attorney for a Connecticut man who was recently acquitted of first-degree murder charges stemming from a booze-fueled brawl between prep school students is making another move to ensure his client’s freedom.
Last July, a jury found Raul Valle, now 19, not guilty of murder and intentional manslaughter in the May 14, 2022 stabbing death of James “Jimmy” McGrath. Valle was 16 at the time of the incident, and McGrath was 17.
The jury was deadlocked on lesser charges of reckless manslaughter in that trial, leading to a partial mistrial.
Valle attended St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, near Fairfield Prep, where McGrath was a junior and star lacrosse player. Prior to the stabbing that evening, both had been at a house party that involved underage drinking and a fight.
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Split image of Jimmy McGrath showing him in a collared shirt and tie and in his Fairfield College Preparatory School lacrosse uniform. (The McGrath Family)
After heading to another location to continue partying, tempers flared again and about 25 people engaged in another brawl on the front lawn of the second home, whose owners were present at the time, witnesses told police. It was during that fight that the stabbing death occurred.
Valle admitted to the stabbing, but said it was committed in self-defense and in defense of a friend.
The day after Valle’s July 9, 2025, acquittal on the most serious charges, the state filed new reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges.
Raul Valle speaks during his second day of testimony at his murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 1, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
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Now, Valle’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, has filed a motion claiming that the reckless manslaughter and reckless assault charges constitute double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional, according to The Connecticut Post.
Crosland’s motion says the only explanation for the initial jury’s decision to acquit on the first-degree murder charge was that his client acted in self-defense.
“No other theory explains the acquittals,” he wrote in the motion.
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Defense attorney Kevin Smith delivers his closing arguments to the jury during Raul Valle’s murder trial in state Superior Court in Milford, Conn., on July 3, 2025. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
“The jury has spoken,” he continued. “The law is clear. The court must dismiss these charges with prejudice — immediately.”
The Connecticut Post reported that in an interview after Valle’s acquittal, the jury foreperson said self-defense was not discussed.
In their own filing, prosecutors disagreed with Crosland’s reasoning, according to the report.
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They described self-defense as a “justification defense,” not one that is central to the elements of the charges Valle still faces, and thus, cannot be used as an argument to have the current charges dismissed.
Kevin McGrath, father of slain prep school lacrosse player Jimmy McGrath, speaks to reporters outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, following Raul Valle’s acquittal on July 9, 2025. He is accompanied by family attorney Michael Rosnick. (Fox News)
“The fact that the jury acquitted the defendant of murder, intentional manslaughter and intentional assaults, but could not reach a unanimous verdict as to the reckless charges, demonstrates only that the jury must have reached the conclusion that the defendant lacked the specific intent to either kill or to cause serious physical injury,” the filing reportedly said.
McGrath’s family was shocked by the results of the 2025 trial.
“I’m astonished at the results, but, you know, it’s due process,” a stoic Kevin McGrath said outside the state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut, later describing his son as a “wonderful person.”
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“He’s entitled to it,” said McGrath. “And at the end of the day, the jury made their verdict. I’m not sure if, you know, they were in the same courtroom as we all were together, but that’s the verdict. And we’ll live with it.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Crosland for comment.
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