Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that could change how quickly some cannabis business owners can sell their companies, but state officials are concerned about what effect that might have on the state’s fledgling marijuana industry.

The bill, House Bill 7178, deals specifically with what are known as equity joint ventures, which are business partnerships between well-financed cannabis operators and “social equity applicants” — people who grew up or live in parts of the state that were hit hardest by the war on drugs.

State records show at least 38 cannabis businesses were created in that way in recent years. But some of the social equity applicants who formed those partnerships are now asking state lawmakers for permission to cash out after three years.

They need the legislature’s permission because state law currently prevents social equity applicants from selling their ownership stakes in cannabis businesses for seven years.

The creation of equity joint ventures was one of several ways that lawmakers tried to ensure individuals from historically disadvantaged communities benefited from the legalization of marijuana and had the opportunity to become entrepreneurs in the new industry.

To get a license, social equity applicants need to show they own at least 50% of the equity joint venture and prove that they live or were raised in one of several historically impoverished communities with a high rate of drug-related prosecutions.

Kennard Ray, one social equity owner, said he understands why lawmakers wrote the law that way in 2021. He said it was meant to protect social equity applicants, like himself, who were entering a business partnership with wealthier companies and individuals.

Lawmakers didn’t want other investors and operators to use social equity applicants to obtain a license and then force them out of the business once their dispensaries, cultivation facilities and delivery services were up and running.