Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection commissioner was in damage control mode on Monday. He had to publicly apologize to cannabis businesses in the state after his agency made what was called a “retaliatory and unauthorized inspection” of a cannabis business in Portland last week.
Rino Ferrarese owns Affinity Grow. He gave testimony at a General Law public hearing last week — only to find DCP inspectors at his business the next day.
Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli spoke at a special meeting convened by his agency on Monday.
“An unannounced compliance check took place without the knowledge or approval from me or my office,” Cafferelli said. “This should not have happened. I take this very seriously and am deeply concerned about how this impacts the agency’s relationship with credentialed owners and the industry.”
“My team is committed to maintaining your trust as we investigate the circumstances leading up to this, and we’ll implement policies to prevent things like this from happening again,” he continued.
In his apology, Cafferelli said the unauthorized inspection revealed no issues.
A spokesperson for DCP said they are investigating it as a personnel issue and declined to name the staff member who was involved.
Committee co-chair Representative Roland Lamar (D-New Haven) said he was shocked to hear about what happened.
“His testimony could have been misconstrued or misheard, but it led to a subsequent action by the Department of Consumer Protection, where he felt, and this committee feels, inadvertently or purposefully, his business was placed in jeopardy,” Lamar said.
“It is our goal as a committee to be a place where constituents feel welcome coming here, opening up themselves to their expertise, to their knowledge, to sharing. But it is my hope that this space is seen as a space where people can come and can share those differing opinions and differing ideas without fear,” Lamar said.
