Connecticut just uncapped THC potency for weed concentrates

On October 1, Connecticut drops the 70% THC potency ceiling it's had on adult-use marijuana concentrates — a change baked into two bills Governor Ned Lamont signed this year, Public Act 26-8 in May and Public Act 26-100 in June. Vape cartridges, shatter, wax, oils and tinctures can now come in above 70% THC and still be sold legally in licensed dispensaries.

Flower isn't part of the change. Public Act 26-100 restored a 35% THC ceiling on flower and other plant material after the original bill would have removed it too — lawmakers apparently decided uncapped concentrates were an easier sell than uncapped flower. The state's existing high-potency rules stick around regardless of the new ceiling: products above certain THC thresholds still need warning labels and extra display and advertising restrictions.

For Connecticut operators, this closes a gap that's been steering customers toward the illicit market or neighboring states for anything stronger than a 70%-THC cart — live resin, diamonds and rosin routinely test well past that number. Cultivators and processors who'd been formulating around the old ceiling now have room to sell what they're actually capable of producing.

It's also a preview of where more states may land: separate caps for flower versus concentrates rather than one blanket THC limit across every product category. Connecticut is betting that a lighter touch on extracts, paired with continued guardrails on labeling and advertising, is a version regulators and industry can both live with.