From 'Gateway Drug' to Green Gold: The Ex-Senator, the Mayor and the Council's Next Big Vote

By CT CannaTimes

Published: November 5, 2025

CORRECTED LINK IN COMMENTS

Tomorrow, Thursday November 6, 2025, the Connecticut Social Equity Council (SEC) will convene its regular meeting to vote on an agenda item that has quietly raised eyebrows across the state:

“Approval of ACRE.0015704 – Adult Use Retail Store (Rodeo Rocky Hill, LLC)” Official agenda:

https://portal.ct.gov/socialequitycouncil/-/media/social-equity-council/2025-meetings/110625–sec-regular-council-meeting-agenda.pdf?hash=F8BDE47AC13F1626C003D2984902D992&rev=dd8558418ee54d0f976e84341e336b5e

At first glance, it looks like another routine retail license approval. But a closer look reveals a web of political power, personal connection, and stunning irony that cuts to the heart of what “social equity” in Connecticut’s cannabis industry was supposed to mean.

A Former Anti-Cannabis Senator Now Profits From Legal Weed

The Rodeo Cannabis name traces back to former State Senator Arthur (Art) Linares, who represented Connecticut’s 33rd District from 2013 to 2019.

https://ballotpedia.org/Art_Linares

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Linares

Today, Linares is listed as co-founder and CEO of Rodeo Cannabis, alongside business partner Brian Faye.

https://www.ctinsider.com/cannabis/article/ct-rodeo-live-rosin-gummies-vape-cannabis-19406511.php

State filings show their venture “Connecticut Social Equity, LLC” — a cultivation applicant — is backed by Linares Faye LLC, a company run by Linares, his father Luis, and Faye.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Stamford-mayor-s-husband-former-state-senator-17330015.php

https://ctexaminer.com/2022/07/22/venture-of-former-state-senator-husband-of-stamford-mayor-on-track-to-win-marijuana-equity-license/

And yet, just a few years ago, while in office, Linares publicly condemned cannabis.

“It’s a gateway drug,” Linares said on the Senate floor in 2016.

“Medical legalization has really desensitized our youth.”

“They don’t think about it as something that can be harmful to their brain development.”

(CT Insider, quoting 2016 remarks)

https://www.ctinsider.com/cannabis/article/art-linares-marijuana-grow-connecticut-17901428.php

Those comments, made while many Black and Latino residents were being arrested for the very same plant, now echo as Linares seeks state approval for a new retail location — not as an outsider or reformer, but under the banner of “social equity.”

Meanwhile, His Wife Leads Stamford — Where Cannabis Is Being Raided

Linares’ wife is Caroline Simmons, Mayor of Stamford since 2021 and just re-elected in a landslide this week.

https://www.stamfordct.gov/government/mayor-s-office/about-the-mayor

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/elections/article/stamford-ct-mayor-race-2025-results-21128952.php

Under her leadership, Stamford has become the epicenter of Attorney General William Tong’s aggressive cannabis enforcement campaign.

In January 2025, Tong held a press conference with Mayor Simmons announcing the seizure of more than 135 pounds of “illegal cannabis” from local smoke shops.

Tong: “Legal cannabis is not a free-for-all. If you sell to minors, we will hold you accountable.”

Simmons: “The City of Stamford will not tolerate illegal, unregulated, and harmful products.”

https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2025-press-releases/stamford-vape-shop-raids

Similar joint enforcement actions in 2023 also targeted Stamford retailers selling hemp-derived and delta-8 products. https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2023-press-releases/attorney-general-tong-stamford-police-confiscate-illegal-thc-cannabis-products-following-inspection

This dynamic — a mayor cracking down on cannabis retailers in her city while her husband’s cannabis brand expands statewide — exposes the contradictions at the heart of Connecticut’s legalization effort.

Why This Vote Matters

The Social Equity Council was established to ensure that those most harmed by prohibition — the over-policed, the incarcerated, and the economically excluded — would be first in line for opportunity when legalization arrived.

But tomorrow’s vote raises the same uncomfortable question that Inside Investigator and others have already reported: Has Connecticut’s equity system been captured by political insiders and well-connected backers?

https://insideinvestigator.org/approved-marijuana-licenses-raise-equity-questions/ https://ctexaminer.com/2022/08/05/connecticut-legislates-equity-but-not-a-share-of-the-profits-for-marijuana/

It is impossible to ignore that the man once calling cannabis a “gateway drug” now stands to profit from its sale — under an “equity” license — while his spouse’s administration participates in statewide enforcement sweeps against unlicensed sellers.

For many advocates, this moment defines the hypocrisy and decay of Connecticut’s cannabis rollout: the punished remain punished, while the powerful rebrand as “equity.”

How to Watch or Speak at the Meeting

The Social Equity Council meeting is open to the public via Zoom. Members of the public may sign up to speak during public comment.

Meeting date: Thursday, November 6, 2025

Time: 10:00 AM

Agenda link (includes Zoom info):

https://portal.ct.gov/socialequitycouncil/-/media/social-equity-council/2025-meetings/110625–sec-regular-council-meeting-agenda.pdf?hash=F8BDE47AC13F1626C003D2984902D992&rev=dd8558418ee54d0f976e84341e336b5e

If you believe Connecticut’s cannabis industry should live up to its promise of true equity, not political privilege — tune in. Speak up. Be counted.