Hartford Ranked 3rd in U.S. for Women in Business

If you’re a woman in business, Hartford is among the best places in the nation to be.  That’s according to a new analysis by the website ShareFile, which ranked Hartford as the third best place in the U.S. for businesswomen.  Hartford ranked seventh a year ago. The “Businesswomen Power City Index” was developed by evaluating the 50 largest cities in the U.S. to determine where the best locations are for women to achieve business success, according to ShareFile.  The index ranks cities based on the percentage of women-owned businesses, executive jobs held by women, women vs. men wage gaps and the buying power of women, which is based on the cost of living and the average wages earned by women.

Hartford has jumped four places from 2017, as a result of a higher percentage of women-owned businesses (up 1.4%), according to the analysis.  Hartford’s ranking in the individual categories was:

• 3^rd (down from 2^nd) in women’s buying power: 119
• 6th (same as last year) in the percentage of women business executives: 31.9%
• 16^th (up from 22^nd) in the wage gap between women and men: 18.1%
• 31^st (up from 42^nd) in the percentage of women-owned businesses: 20.4%

The website points out that Hartford is home to the Women’s Business Center, located at the University of Hartford, which supports female entrepreneurs across the city and the state, offering advice, training, and events for women looking to expand their business.

Hartford is the only New England city in the top 20.  Providence, in the top 10 a year ago, fell out of the top 20.

Just ahead of Hartford, and retaining the top two positions in the ranking, were Baltimore and Tampa.  Rounding out the top 15 were Washington DC, Jacksonville, Raleigh, Denver, Orlando, Miami, Austin, Virginia Beach, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Aside from the top two, no other city in the top 20 has remained in the same position as a year ago.

The analysis relies on data from four main sources, including the U.S. Census 2016 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, U.S Census Bureau 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Sperling’s Best Places and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. ShareFile is a cloud-based file sharing service, a Citrix Systems company, based in Raleigh.

Organizations Focused on Progress for Women and Girls Form Statewide Collective

It began as a casual conversation between Kate Farrar, Executive Director of the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF) and Sharon Cappetta, Director of Development at The Community Foundation for Women and Girls, during the 2016 United State of Women Summit.  Now, it is a full-fledged and far-reaching network aimed at providing support and collaboration for organizations serving women and girls across Connecticut. The Connecticut Collective for Women and Girls (CCWG), launched last month with more than 20 members and six funders, gathered at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation to celebrate the beginning of the Collective. Members range from Girl Scouts to Planned Parenthood and the Commission on Women, Children and Seniors; the YWCA to The Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.

The Collective is a supportive network that unifies organizational members, facilitates collaboration, and bolsters their collective power to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls in Connecticut. CWEALF is the initiative's organizer.

“Now is the moment to come together to make progress for women and girls,” said Kate Farrar, Executive Director of CWEALF. “As the state’s leading champion for women and girls, CWEALF is thrilled to convene organizations across the state to increase our impact.”

Organizers say that while many organizations are doing critical work to transform the lives of women and girls in the state, too often, these organizations operate separately, leading to silos. The CCWG aims to “expand our strength as a collective force. It builds on participants’ individual assets with a community network of organizations that uplift and amplify each other’s work. The very act of coming together in this way increases each organization’s impact to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls in Connecticut.”

"Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Fund for Women & Girls is pleased to support the newly launched Collective. Collaboration, Diversity and Inclusion are core values of the Community Foundation’s. Through the Collaborative, partner organizations will develop a common language and requisite understanding of what is needed to advance gender equity," said Tricia Hyacinth, Director, Fund for Women & Girls. "Moreover, members, from all regions of the state, currently working independently, will achieve greater impact through their collective efforts."   

“The Community Fund for Women & Girls and The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven are delighted to support the Connecticut Collective for Women and Girls,” said Sharon Cappetta, Director of Development. “This emerging network of committed program providers are already doing great work with women and girls in the state. Together, working collectively, they strengthen their individual organizations and connect to potential partners, as well as bring attention and audiences to the gender implications of public policy in Connecticut. Our communities and our state benefit from targeted investments in nonprofit organizations, especially those who are working directly to advance women and girls.”

Other funders of the Collective are the Aurora Foundation for Women and Girls; The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut's Women and Girls’ Fund; the Women’s Fund at Connecticut Community Foundation; and the Main Street Community Foundation's Women & Girls’ Fund.  The Connecticut Collective for Women and Girls is guided by the following principles of gender equity, racial justice, LGBTQIA rights, civil rights, disability rights, ending and preventing violence, economic justice, reproductive rights, and immigrants’ rights.

Millennials Make the Most Money in Massachusetts; Connecticut Ranks 16th

If you were born between 1982 and 2000, and you live in Massachusetts, you’re making more money, on average, then people of your generation living elsewhere in the United States.  If you live in Connecticut, there are 15 states where the average salary for millennials is higher. Based on U.S. Census data analyzed by the website howmuch.com, the average salary for millennials in Connecticut is $69,600, compared with $80,307 in Massachusetts.  The states in between, reaching the top 10, are Minnesota ($77,090), North Dakota ($76,836), Washington, DC ($75,220), Maryland ($74,737), New Hampshire ($73,941), Wyoming ($73,345), Alaska ($72,374), New Jersey ($72,150), and Virginia ($71,397).

Also ahead of Connecticut are Utah ($71,284), South Dakota ($70,989), Nebraska ($70,870), Washington ($70,441), and Iowa ($69,739).

The analysis points out that millennials “are the most diverse generation in American history, more of them went to college than previous generations, and they are now the largest contingent in the workforce. Many of them also graduated in the middle of the Great Recession, which economists believe might have a lifelong impact on their wages.”

Geography also plays a role, according to the data.  The South, for example, “clearly stands out as a lackluster region for millennials in the labor market.”  In the Upper Midwest, salaries tend to be higher, and the same is true for much of the Northeast.

With the exception of Washington State, much of the west coast does not stand out.  “This highlights the fact that big tech companies are creating great jobs for a select group of skilled workers,” the analysis points out.

Millennials are making the least amount of money in Florida ($54,889), Mississippi ($53,269) and New Mexico ($51,893).

The data used is 2016 median household income for 25 to 44 year olds, taken from Census data and adjusted by Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parity data, the most recent and comprehensive available.

PERSPECTIVE: Nonprofits Are Under [Cyber] Attack - But They Don’t Have to be Easy Targets

by Amber Mata Nonprofits often tend to be targeted by cyber criminals due to a lack of resources to implement cybersecurity measures. They are just as susceptible to a data breach as for-profit organizations, if not more. However, they often don’t embrace the same level of changes that other organizations are making to implement a sophisticated cybersecurity program as there is a belief that they are not a target.

This is a dangerous assumption to make.

The reality is, nonprofit organizations collect incredibly sensitive information about its members and donors, which can include social security numbers, credit card information, and even medical information. It’s time for nonprofits to get serious about cybersecurity because without proper measures in place, one single breach could end their entire organization and its mission.

Why they should be concerned

Nonprofit websites that end in .org are often targets of hackers because they usually show up early in search results leading to high visibility. The higher the visibility, the greater the value of the target. A valuable target with little or no security is a no brainer target for cyber criminals.

Nonprofit organizations tend to handle volumes of sensitive data every day. Member records, donor information, confidential emails, and hundreds of other transactions pass through their gates. Without proper cybersecurity measures, an organization can easily be breached leaving the path to this sensitive information wide open to cyber criminals.

For an organization that relies heavily on grants and donors, a cybersecurity breach can be deadly. A breach can result in lost trust and confidence if donors fear their reputation or identity could take a hit. Even if a nonprofit organization does survive the reputational loss, the costs of settlements, notifying affected parties, and monitoring breached parties are sure to put a financial strain on the organization.

Where to begin

Get a game plan together – Start with a holistic approach looking from the outside, in. Preparation involves a risk assessment of the organization’s IT environment. Nonprofits should also consider taking a complete infrastructure inventory and review any regulatory requirements. It is important to create necessary policies and enforce them.

Always inform and train all volunteers and employees to properly embrace all updates. Initiate a plan to know what data is kept, where it is, how it is used, and who has access.

Secure all technology – The two best places to start with protecting technology is to always utilize multi factor authentication and always upgrade the latest patches to all software. Patches can ensure that the latest security measures are deployed to software and multi factor authentication can prevent remote attacks even if credentials become compromised. It is an easy and effective tool to implement, yet over 70% of nonprofits do not utilize.

It takes time – Security is not a destination it’s a way of life. It can take 18 to 24 months to raise an organization’s cybersecurity maturity by just one level. Establishing a proper and mature cybersecurity posture is an ongoing effort. Patience and dedication is definitely a requirement.

Doing nothing is absolutely not an option. Even if an organization hasn’t experienced a cyber breach to date, there’s no telling what tomorrow may bring. A lack of cybersecurity measures is like driving a car without insurance; it’s a big risk. Small organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit, are attractive targets but they don’t have be easy targets.

A breach is inevitable if proper security is not implemented but proactive measures can minimize the effects and allow a clear path to an accomplished mission. Don’t become an easy target, it’s time to take cybersecurity seriously.

______________________________

Amber Mata is Marketing Manager at Kyber Security, with offices in Fairfield, Rocky Hill and Providence, RI.  Kyber Security provides cybersecurity and compliance for small firms up through enterprise businesses. Kyber Security is a partner in the The Alliance for Nonprofit Growth and Opportunity (TANGO), where this article first appeared.  TANGO creates partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations to drive innovation, create cost savings, and deliver mission advancement.

CT Ranks 5th in Charitable Giving, Analysis Says

The residents of Connecticut are the fifth most generous in the nation, according to a new analysis.  The review of charitable giving by the financial website WalletHub, across the nation’s 50 states, found that Connecticut ranked:

• 3rd – Percentage of Population Who Donated Money
• 8th – Charities per Capita
• 18th – Percentage of Donated Income
• 19th – Volunteer Rate
• 25th – Volunteer Hours per Capita

Overall, only Minnesota, Utah, New York and Maryland placed higher than Connecticut in the ranking of Most Charitable States.  Rounding out the top ten were Virginia, Georgia, Washington, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.

A year ago, Utah topped the list and Connecticut was just outside the top 10 at number 11.

The 18 key metrics used in the analysis were grouped in two categories weighed equally, Volunteering & Service and Charitable Giving.  Connecticut ranked 7^th in the former and 14^th in the latter.  The Volunteering & Service category included share of the population collecting or distributing food or clothes for people in need, volunteer hours per capita, and fundraising or selling items to raise money.  The Charitable Giving section included donating money and time, as well as the number of public charities, and share of the population donating time.

The least charitable states, according to the analysis, were Arizona, Rhode Island and Nevada.

Americans are among the world’s most generous people, WalletHub points out, ranking fourth out of 140 countries. U.S. donors in 2017 gave more than $410 billion to charity, with 70 percent of the funds coming directly from individuals, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.  In addition, nearly 63 million people volunteer in the U.S., serving a combined total of 7.9 billion hours per year, the equivalent of $184 billion of service.

https://youtu.be/t5lI9urlYkM

Impact of One Black Teacher Can Be Life-Changing, UConn Research Reveals

The influence of having a black teacher can significantly impact a black student’s life, and the effect begins early in an education.  Having just one black teacher in elementary school not only makes children more like to graduate high school – it also makes them significantly more likely to enroll in college, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Connecticut researcher. Black students who’d had just one black teacher by third grade were 13 percent more likely to enroll in college – and those who’d had two were 32 percent more likely.

The research paper, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, observed that “Black teachers provide a crucial signal that leads black students to update their beliefs about the returns to effort and what educational outcomes are possible.”  In addition, “role model effects help to explain why black teachers increase the educational attainment of black students.”

The findings, from researchers at UConn, Johns Hopkins University, American University, and the University of California-Davis, were published recently in a working paper titled “The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers.”  Another, related working paper by the same team titled “Teacher Expectations Matter,” also published by NBER, found teachers’ beliefs about a student’s college potential can become self-fulfilling prophecies.

In that research, every 20 percent increase in a teacher’s expectations raised the actual chance of finishing college for white students by about 6 percent and 10 percent for black students. However, because black students had the strongest endorsements from black teachers, and black teachers are scarce, they have less chance to reap the benefit of high expectations than their white peers, UConn Today reported.

“Black student students often don’t have parents or other black adults in their lives who have gone to college and gotten professional jobs,” Joshua Hyman told UConn Today.  Hyman, an assistant professor of public policy at UConn, who has a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education, co-authored the papers along with researchers from the three other universities.

“All it takes is one black teacher to influence a student,” he adds. “They see someone like them in their classroom and start to believe they can go to college too, and get a good job.”

The paper appears to be the first to document the long-term reach of the role model effect, UConn Today reported.  The researchers previously found that having at least one black teacher in elementary school reduced their probability of dropping out by 29 percent for low-income black students – and 39 percent for very low-income black boys.

In a New York Times op-ed last year, a ninth-grade teacher who has worked for 10 years in high schools and middle schools in the New York City area, and is Black, wrote this: “Black students need teachers who understand that they’re capable of the full range of anxieties and insecurities, greatness and success, hilarious moments and generous surprises. The amount of melanin in my skin is neither necessary nor sufficient for this: It’s not a magic formula. But I can remember a time when I looked and sounded like my students. That helps me see myself in them, and all they’re capable of. I hope they can see themselves in me.”

The latest findings are based on data from the Tennessee STAR class size reduction experiment that started in 1986 and randomly assigned disadvantaged kindergarten students to various sizes of classroom.  The researchers replicated the findings with similar data for North Carolina students.

The study found that black students who’d had a black teacher in kindergarten were as much as 18 percent more likely than their peers to enroll in college. Getting a black teacher in their first STAR year, any year up to third grade, increased a black student’s likelihood of enrolling in college by 13 percent.  Black children who had two black teachers during the program were 32 percent more likely to go to college than their peers who didn’t have black teachers at all.

“What’s very interesting about this paper is that it looks later in a student’s life,” says Hyman. “It’s impressive that the impression of having a black elementary school teacher last that long. It helps reduce the race gap.”

Additionally, students who had at least one black teacher in grades K-3 were about 10 percent more likely to be described by their 4th grade teachers as “persistent” or kids who “made an effort” and “tried to finish difficult work,” the researchers found. These students were also marginally more likely to ask questions and talk about school subjects out of class.

“One of the lingering issues of this paper is that we have to entice black people to enter the teaching areas,” Hyman points out. “In schools where there is a large black population, that has to be addressed.”

CT Per Student Spending in Public Higher Education Saw 7th Largest Drop in Nation During Past Decade

The burden has shifted and grown during the past decade for students attending Connecticut’s public two- and four-year institutions of higher education. Between 2008 and 2018, average tuition at public colleges and universities (adjusted for inflation) grew by 38.4 percent in Connecticut, according to a new national analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The study found that average tuition increased by $3,437 during the decade – 13^th largest average increase among the states - as state spending per student dropped by $3,203.

That is the 7^th largest average drop in state per student spending in the nation, and the largest among the New England states.  The next largest state reduction in the region was in New Hampshire, ranking 24th.  Massachusetts ranked 28^th, reducing state spending per student by $1,295.

Tuition climbed as state spending per student dropped by 20.2 percent at Connecticut’s public higher education institutions - the 20th largest percentage decrease among the states.

Connecticut is not alone.

Overall state funding for public two- and four-year colleges in the school year ending in 2018 was more than $7 billion below its 2008 level, after adjusting for inflation, according to the study.

Of the 49 states (all except Illinois) analyzed over the full 2008-2018 period:

• 45 spent less per student in the 2018 school year than in 2008. The only states spending more than in 2008 were California, Hawaii, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
• States cut funding deeply after the recession hit. The average state spent $1,502, or 16 percent, less per student in 2018 than in 2008.
• Per-student funding in nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina — fell by more than 30 percent over this period.

The report also found that annual published tuition at four-year public colleges has risen by $2,651, or 36 percent, since the 2008 school year.  In Louisiana, published tuition at four-year schools has doubled, while in six other states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, and Hawaii — published tuition is up more than 60 percent.

“These sharp tuition increases have accelerated longer-term trends of college becoming less affordable and costs shifting from states to students,” the report, “Unkept Promises:  State Cuts to Higher Education Threaten Access and Equity,” stated.

The largest tuition increases, comparing public, four-year colleges in 2008 and 2018, were in Arizona, Louisiana, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, Alabama, California, Rhode Island, Vermont, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Connecticut was fourth highest among the six New England states.  Maine had the smallest tuition increase.

Indications are that the trend has slowed during the past year.  Published tuition — the “sticker price” — at public four-year institutions rose by less than 1 percent nationally between the 2017 and 2018 school years, the report indicated.  Rhode Island increased average tuition across its four-year institutions on a dollar basis more than any other state, by $559, or roughly 4.8 percent. Connecticut - along with Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, and Oregon - raised average tuition by more than $300, according to data compiled for the report, published last month.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan research and policy institute which pursues federal and state policies designed both to reduce poverty and inequality and to restore fiscal responsibility in equitable and effective ways, according to the organization’s website.  The Center is based in Washington, D.C.

Failures in Federal Housing Policy Focus of Media Investigation, Hartford Concerns Highlighted

An NBC News investigation of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has found that more than 1,000 out of HUD’s nearly 28,000 federally subsidized multifamily properties failed their most recent inspection — a failure rate that is more than 30 percent higher than in 2016, according to an analysis of HUD records. When NBC broke the story last week of the agency’s dismal record of responding to conditions that at times have been described a “life-threatening,” the example cited most prominently was in Hartford.

The news report stated that “A federal housing inspection in February confirmed living conditions were abysmal … throughout the 52-unit Section 8 development known as the Infill apartments. The property scored only 27 points out of 100, far below the 60 points needed to pass the mandatory health and safety inspection.”  Infill is located in Hartford’s North End. 

“More than nine months after the inspection, federally mandated deadlines for action have come and gone, and residents say little has changed,” NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reported, despite “citations for exposed wiring, missing smoke detectors and bug infestations,” noted that “the Infill units racked up 113 health and safety violations — including 24 that HUD deemed ‘life-threatening.’”

“In one of Hartford’s poorest neighborhoods, a three-month investigation by NBC News found that HUD failed to comply with federal laws requiring prompt action against the owner of a property that authorities knew was unsafe, unhealthy and in disrepair, according to documents released through the Freedom of Information Act,” Gosk reported.

While the agency pointed out that 96 percent nationwide passed inspections, NBC reported that “HUD’s enforcement office, tasked with going after the worst landlords, now has the lowest staff levels since 1999, according to a federal watchdog.”

“In the case of Infill, though, HUD acknowledged that the landlord failed to deliver,” NBC News reported. “The owner provided certain assurances to our field folks that, in the end, did not happen,” HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said in an email to NBC News. “That hasn't stopped the federal subsidies,” NBC News reported.

"It's a flow of money that continues to come," AJ Johnson, a local pastor who has helped the tenants organize, told NBC News.  “Whether it’s indifference or incompetence, the Trump administration’s failures in Connecticut and around the country cannot be excused. Someone must be held accountable,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who led previous efforts to strengthen the HUD inspection process, NBC News reported. “Secretary [Ben] Carson owes it to these families to present a concrete plan for how he will make this better, and how he’ll make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Infill’s owner, meanwhile, is “set for years to come,” the NBC News report concluded.  “In July 2017, just seven months before the failed inspection, HUD renewed its contract with Isaacson for 20 years — a deal worth over $14 million.”

The NBC News investigation was reported, in addition to Gosk, by Suzy Khimm, Laura Strickler and Hanna Rappleye, and included interviews with numerous tenants of the property and other individuals in Hartford and Washington.

Blockchain Gains a Foothold on Connecticut Campuses

Blockchain is soon to arrive on Connecticut’s college campuses, with new initiatives imminent at Southern Connecticut State University, University of Saint Joseph, and the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus. A six-week boot camp for individuals who would like to widen their computer programming skills to include Blockchain – a cutting-edge form of encryption technology – has been developed at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.  The SCSU Blockchain Academy launches on January 23 and runs though March 6.

Blockchain refers to the technology behind the development of secure digital databases that are accessible to the public, but cannot be altered by anyone other than the person posting the data. It is a shared, distributed ledger that improves the process of tracking and recording a transaction.  Blockchain can be used for a variety of purposes, including financial transactions, supply chain management, luxury goods or anything of value. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies use this technology.

“Southern intends to become a leader in educating people about the ‘Internet of Value,’ which is the fastest growing market the world has ever seen,” said Colleen Bielitz, SCSU associate vice president for strategic initiatives and outreach. A promotional video posted by Southern (below) has already been seen more than one thousand times.

“Blockchain is going to be increasingly important to businesses, and during the next decade is expected to have a major impact on the economy and the world. The goal of this academy is to grow the community of decentralized application developers and to make New Haven a hub for Blockchain technology and innovation as companies look to take advantage of this growing market.”

The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) announced last week that it has developed the Greater Hartford area’s first two-part certification program for future blockchain technologist, in collaboration with DappDevs, which is also collaborating with Southern and UConn.

President Rhona Free, Ph.D., remarked, “With this certificate program, USJ continues its commitment to providing educational programs aligned to our regional economy. The Greater Hartford community will benefit from this newly-created training program that offers skill development and career advancement in blockchain application development.”

The USJ pre-certificate program geared toward faculty, current college students, and college graduates in the Greater Hartford region, begins on Feb. 2, 2019, and runs over four weeks as one three-hour evening session per week. The full certification program is a six-week session that runs from March 5-April 11, as two three-hour sessions per week.

UConn’s Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI) is sponsoring the creation of a blockchain chapter in Stamford in order to facilitate the development of an education-based micro community designed to connect decentralized application developers. This community, in hand with Stamford’s established financial enterprises, will play a key role in further establishing Connecticut as a USA crypto capital, according to the university’s website.  UConn is offering a two-day Blockchain Development course, with its partners, DappDevs and the Werth Institute.

UConn’s first-ever blockchain symposium was held in Stamford in August.  The conference drew top scholars and Ph.D. students Stanford, Princeton, Virginia Tech, and from 10 nations, including England, Israel, Switzerland, China and Norway. State-run news agencies from Vietnam and China also covered the two-day event, called “Blockchain Technology & Organizations Research Symposium.”

These initiatives reflect that blockchain is increasingly taking academia by storm, not only in Connecticut but across the nation.  This past summer Columbia University and Stanford University both launched blockchain research centers, following in the footsteps of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Digital Currency Initiative, which launched as part of the MIT Media Lab in 2015; MIT was among the first institutions to create such a program, according to industry publication Inside Higher Ed.

The Center for Blockchain Research at Stanford University launched in June.  Miami University launches a course in blockchain technology for undergraduates in the Spring 2019 semester.  Montclair State University’s center for continuing and professional education recently spearheaded the launch of three professional blockchain certificates -- one covering the basics, one for developers and one focusing on applications of blockchain in the financial sector.

https://youtu.be/_8X_wr1tCNI

Marijuana Sales Begin Tuesday in MA; CT Expected to Consider Legalization in 2019

Massachusetts begins the sale of recreational marijuana on Tuesday, in Northampton and Leicester, as Connecticut looks ahead to a new Governor and new legislature, taking office in six weeks, with the addition of recreational sales on the agenda to complement a thriving medical marijuana program. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have passed laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form.  The District of Columbia and 10 states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- have adopted the most expansive laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use, according to Governing magazine.  The Massachusetts law was approved two years ago, but retail sales have not begun - until this week.

Governor-elect Ned Lamont told Connecticut Public Radio listeners, just a few days prior to his election, that “I think legalizing marijuana is an idea whose time has come…and I’m gonna push it in the first year” of the new administration.  He added that “maybe we should tax this, regulate it in a serious way, put some of that money toward opioid treatment.”

Most recently, Michigan voters approved a ballot measure permitting adults age 21 and over to purchase and possess recreational-use marijuana. Vermont became the first state earlier this year to legalize marijuana for recreational use through the legislative process, rather than via a ballot measure. Vermont's law allows for adults age 21 and over to grow and possess small amounts of cannabis. However, it does not permit the sale of nonmedical cannabis. Some other state laws similarly decriminalized marijuana, but did not initially legalize retail sales.

The Connecticut General Assembly's Regulations Review Committee agreed last week that chronic neuropathic pain associated with degenerative spinal disorders is eligible for treatment with the drug, adding that to the list of approved conditions.  There are now 31 conditions that have been approved for adults and eight for patients under 18 that can be treated with medical marijuana. Minors can be treated for eight conditions.

There are currently 29,543 patients in Connecticut's medical marijuana program and 1,000 certifying physicians, according to published reports. In recent months, DCP has launched a database listing medical marijuana brands registered with the state and added eight new conditions to the program. The eight new conditions for adults added this summer include: Spasticity, or neuropathic pain associated with fibromyalgia; Severe rheumatoid arthritis; Postherpetic neuralgia; Hydrocephalus with intractable headache;  Intractable headache syndromes; Neuropathic facial pain; Muscular dystrophy; and Osteogenesis imperfecta.

Connecticut’s nine dispensaries and four growers are reportedly discussing adding more storefronts and growers in light of an increasing patient count.

Last month, Rhode Island’s Department of Health this week approved medical marijuana use for people who suffer from some severe manifestations of autism, most of whom are children.  But before doctors can recommend marijuana, the health department has implemented several safeguards "to ensure that patients are being treated safely." Seven other states have made autism a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, according to advocacy group #cannabis4autism: Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

At the University of Connecticut, Professor Gerald Berkowitz will teach students about marijuana growing, a burgeoning industry as more states legalize cannabis use for medical and/or recreational purposes. The UConn class — called "Horticulture of Cannabis: from seed to harvest" — is a lecture course, and it's attracted about 270 students who will begin studies in January, Hartford Business Journal reported this month.

In Colorado, the adult-use marijuana market continues to surge nearly five years after the launch of recreational sales in the state, according to a recent news report.  Through August 2018 – the most recent data available from the Colorado Department of Revenue – recreational marijuana sales topped $800 million and the state is on pace to surpass $1.2 billion by the end of the year. That would represent a 12 percent increase over total sales in 2017. As of August 2017, 498 recreational stores were licensed throughout the state; that number grew to 541 by September 1, 2018 – a 9 percent increase