Article Mention: 7 Millennials — How To Keep Us In Connecticut

In September 2017, I spoke with my friend Jesse Rifkin for an article he was writing about why so many people in our generation (ourselves included) were leaving our home state of Connecticut — and how the state could attract and keep them.

Read the excerpt with my comments below, and read the full article here: https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-rifkin-keep-millennials-in-ct-0910-20170909-story.html

7 Millennials: How To Keep Us In Connecticut

Millennials are leaving Connecticut at the 12th highest rate among the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, an exodus that concerns employers and those worried about the state's future. To find out why, I interviewed millennials who grew up or attended college in Connecticut, many of whom have left.

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Sam Tracy: Legalize Marijuana

After being UConn student body president and on-campus director of the national group Students For Sensible Drug Policy, Sam Tracy from South Windsor wanted to enter a career advancing marijuana reform. Today, he is director of the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marijuana — even though he lives in Medford, Mass.

"There were more job opportunities in [Massachusetts'] medical marijuana program because it was set up much better than Connecticut's," Tracy said. "Connecticut's program is incredibly restrictive — only nine dispensaries in the whole state. Massachusetts started off with a cap of 35 statewide, which they have since lifted, so there will probably be 80 to 120 in the next year or two."

A Harris poll found that 20 percent of millennials would consider moving to a state because marijuana is legal there. Though there is no direct correlation, according to the Census Bureau, Connecticut's population growth this decade was near zero (plus 0.1 percent), significantly behind other marijuana-legal states including Colorado (plus 10.1 percent), Washington (plus 8.3 percent), and Oregon (plus 6.8 percent).

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