The Highs and the Lows of the Hamden High Bazaar

In 2021 Connecticut legalized recreational marijuana

It’s a cold winter Sunday day in Hamden, Connecticut. Many students who attend Quinnipiac University have gone home for winter break, so the town seems to be less busy than normal. That seems to be the case until you reach Sherman road. On this road, on this cold winter day, you see a line of cars parked along the side of each side of the road. After parking on the road you step out of your car and you smell it. The scent is a very specific one, one that many have smelled before, but many have not truly experienced. “You smell that?” Hamden resident Jack Mandato asks as he gets out of the car. It was the smell of marijuana.

When governor Ned Lamont signed the bill that officially made marijuana in the state of Connecticut legal, many rejoiced as finally, they were able to openly smoke cannabis, gift cannabis, and even start growing the plants in July of 2023. With this law in place, many of the marijuana users in Connecticut came out of the woodwork and began smoking openly and freely for the first time in Connecticut history. With these people coming out, it created the opportunity for more people to express their love and interest in cannabis.

In Hamden, one event, in particular, popped up and started gaining major traction: the Hamden High Bazaar. The Hamden High Bazaar grew and grew as people from all over the greater New Haven area have come together to visit this very intriguing weed fair. As mentioned, before I got to take a tour of this Bazaar with Quinnipiac Senior and marijuana enthusiast Jack Mandato.

When first arriving at the Bazaar, there’s a long roadway up a hill you would need to climb. This hill led to a warehouse. Getting closer and closer to the warehouse made it easier to know what was going on. With loud music playing, the smell of burnt and unburnt cannabis, and even a foggy haze inside once you get there shows how large and diverse this Bazaar truly was. When looking back on his experiences there, Mandato remembers his first time at the Bazaar and how unprepared he was for it. “The first time I went to the Hamden High Bazaar, the plethora of variety that’s available to everyone was astounding and if I’m being honest overwhelming, but in a good way. Vendors carry everything from [cannabis] flower, concentrates, edibles, and even mushrooms, which was something that shocked me considering it’s a class 1 drug which made me question the legality of the entire operation.”

Yes, let’s see how legal this bazaar really was. In Connecticut’s marijuana law, the sale of marijuana between individuals is prohibited; however, the gifting of cannabis was not. This is how the Hamden High Bazaar got around the wording of the law. When you first enter the bazaar, there is a $20 entry fee for all people who are 21 and over. Once inside the way the Bazaar worked legally was when you went up to a "vendor" they would "gift" a person marijuana, thus following the law, then they would give you a sticker of some sort and ask for a "tip." Due to the fact the monetary exchange was not specifically for marijuana, vendors got around the prohibition of selling weed.

2 of many stickers given out at the High Bazaar

The true downfall of the Hamden High Bazaar wasn't the sale of substances, but that the warehouse where it was taking place was a fire hazard. With the warehouse out of commission, the Bazaar moved and was shut down yet again due to permitting issues. Sadly for Bazaar goers, the Bazaar's chance of returning is very unlikely.

Just last week, Connecticut's House of Representatives passed legislation that prohibits and eliminates commercial cannabis gifting, the type that was taking place at Hamden's Bazaar. Hamden House member Michael D’Agostino explained on the house floor that “You can gift to your friends and relatives, That is still legal and will remain legal after we pass this bill.” Mandato however, is not a fan of the House passing this bill. "This bill will lead to the corporatization of marijuana which companies such as Curaleaf, CTPharma, and Verano will take advantage of and begin to push weed that is not only subpar but more dangerous." Mandato also thinks that the grey market that these Bazaars have will help not cut corners on marijuana production and saftey. "You’d think that eliminating the “grey market” of the cannabis community would be a good thing but new laws have allowed for the standards of growing to degrade. This gives way for companies to cut corners and give lower quality cannabis to the consumer which in turn creates more divisiveness and tension in the cannabis community."

With it looking more and more likely that Hamden's high Bazaar will never be coming back, those who went will cherish the time that they had there. Mandato said, "The High Bazaar in Hamden was one of the most fun, unique, and educational gatherings I’ve ever had the pleasure of attending."

The bill now needs to pass the Senate and then be signed into law by governor Ned Lamont.