What Changes on October 1 (and What You'll Actually Notice)

TL;DR: On October 1, 2026 Connecticut changes how the state tax on adult-use cannabis is calculated — from a tax based on THC content to 10.75% of the selling price. Depending on the product, that may raise or lower your total. Two product rules change with it: the 70% potency cap comes off concentrates, and infused drinks sold at cannabis retailers can hold up to 10mg THC per container. What you can buy and carry does not change at all.

Most law changes are invisible from the customer side. This one is partly visible, partly not — and the parts people are asking us about are not always the parts that actually matter. Here is the plain version: what changes on October 1, what shows up on the shelf, and what stays exactly as it was.

The tax is calculated a different way

Starting October 1, 2026, Connecticut is changing how the state tax on adult-use cannabis purchases is calculated. The current THC-based tax will be replaced by a 10.75% tax based on the selling price. Existing sales and municipal cannabis taxes will continue to apply — the 6.35% state sales tax and the 3% municipal cannabis tax both stay exactly where they are.

Depending on the product, this change may increase or decrease your checkout total. The old tax rose with potency; the new one rises with price. That means it lands differently on a high-testing concentrate than it does on a value eighth, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

Two practical things. Every price on our menus is tax-included, so the number you see is the number you pay — if something you buy regularly moves, you will see it there. And our team can walk you through the tax breakdown on any purchase. Just ask at the counter.

The 70% cap comes off concentrates

This is the change most likely to show up on a shelf. Connecticut capped concentrates at 70% THC. From October 1 that cap is removed.

To be clear about what this is not: flower keeps its 35% THC cap, and this is not a general lifting of potency limits. It is one cap, on one category.

In practice it means you may start seeing concentrates testing higher than Connecticut has allowed before — though only as and when that inventory actually reaches us, which will not be October 1. Higher is not automatically better, either: format, terpenes and freshness shape the experience at least as much as the number does. Our guide to what counts as high THC is the honest version, and live resin vs. rosin covers why two concentrates with similar numbers can feel completely different.

Infused drinks get more room

Cannabis beverages sold through a cannabis retailer can now hold up to 10mg THC per container. Drinks sold through package stores stay limited to 5mg per container.

One detail worth reading carefully, because it is the one people get wrong: that is per container, not per serving. A 10mg can may well be labelled as two servings. Check the label for both numbers before you decide how much of it to drink.

If you have tried a THC drink and found it too light to bother with, this is the change worth knowing about. If you are new to them, the old advice still applies: drinks tend to come on faster than a gummy, so treat the first one as a measurement rather than a session. We wrote a complete guide to THC beverages in Connecticut if you want the longer version.

What changes, and what does not

Two more dates on the calendar

October 1 is not the only date in the 2026 rewrite. November 1 brings changes to social equity ownership rules, and December 1 updates how hemp and cannabis are defined. Neither one changes what you can buy, but both matter to how the industry in Connecticut works. Our full breakdown of the year’s changes is here: Connecticut cannabis laws in 2026 — what changed.

What we are doing about it

Nothing you need to action. Our menus at all five stores — Bridgeport, Hamden, Killingly, New London and Torrington — show tax-included pricing, so whatever the change does, the number on the menu is the number at the counter. Our budtenders have been briefed, so if you want to know how it lands on something you buy regularly, ask. That is a better answer than anything we could write in advance.

October 1 FAQs

21+ only. For use by adults in Connecticut. Keep out of reach of children. Do not drive under the influence.