A Q&A WITH THERAPLANT CEO David Goldburg

The CEO of Connecticut’s first cannabis cultivator reflects on Theraplant’s turnaround and efforts in the medical market: A Q&A

Connecticut was the 17th state to join the country-wide movement to legalize cannabis in 2012. Watertown’s Theraplant is the first of the original four licensed cannabis cultivators in the state, having begun medical use in 2014. Chief Executive Officer David Goldburg reflects on the progress Theraplant has made since becoming CEO in January 2024.

1. What are the biggest changes implemented at Theraplant since becoming CEO?

My primary focus in 2024 was to improve the quality and consistency of our products for both the medical and adult-use markets, and we have made significant strides. I brought in a new and experienced team to oversee our propagation, cultivation, and post-harvest operations. We made changes in how we grow, harvest and trim flower, and as a result, Theraplant is producing better flower with higher THC and terpene content. And our customers have taken notice.

In December 2024, we introduced our first new flower brand, All Hours (ahcannabis.com) to showcase our flower with an outstanding nose, look, bud size, and THC and terpene levels. All Hours has been popular since its debut and the feedback from our dispensary partners and retail customers has been overwhelmingly positive.

2. How has Theraplant innovated and improved quality since your arrival as CEO?

In 2024, Theraplant began producing bubble hash and rosin, the cleanest and highest quality cannabis concentrates. To produce these products, we wash whole flower in specialized equipment with cold water free from solvents or additives, isolating trichomes rich in cannabinoids and terpenes. This process creates a fine bubble hash powder which we add to our whole flower pre-rolls, creating a more flavorful product. With the application of pressure and heat, we also convert bubble hash into rosin, which is used in our vapes, offering a natural full spectrum experience to our customers. Our one-of-a-kind All Hours rosin pre-rolls and vapes debuted in 2025.

Our rosin is produced from indoor cultivated flower under controlled and optimal conditions, bringing out the true expression of the plant’s genetics. Rosin produced with outdoor flower is more susceptible to microbial contamination and pest infestation, requiring more pesticide treatments and potentially remediation.

Not all cannabis flower is the same. Connecticut law allows cultivators to remediate flower that has failed testing if their remediation plans are approved by the Department of Consumer Protection. This is a common industry practice, and last year Theraplant stopped selling remediated flower, which is a lower quality product. And we are the only cultivator in CT that has publicly made this pledge. If our flower fails state mandated testing, we will not sell it.

Theraplant only uses trimmed whole flower in our pre-roll products. Many of our competitors add trim to their pre-rolls, containing leaves and stems with little to no THC and terpenes, diluting the quality of the final product.

3. As one of the original players in the medical market, please discuss the state of the medical market today and Theraplant’s role.

It is no secret that CT’s medical program is struggling. Since adult-use was introduced, the number of enrolled medical patients and medical cannabis sales have dropped significantly. Regardless of the factors causing this decline, Theraplant is committed to the medical program and providing patients with critical cannabis medications to address a variety of conditions.

Theraplant is one of the top providers – if not the number one supplier – of medical cannabis offerings in Connecticut. Each month, we provide a wide range of products to address pain and chronic illness, including THC capsules (10mg, 50mg, and 100mg strengths); high dose CBD capsules (250mg); CBD transdermal creams with 3:1 and 1:1 CBD:THC ratios; and Rick Simpson Oil (RSO).

We are the major producer of RSO, an extract derived from whole flower containing THC, minor cannabinoids and terpenes. RSO can be used orally or topically, and our customers use this oil to treat symptoms of inflammation among other conditions.

Theraplant continues to participate in a compassionate care program, where we donate a percentage of sales monthly in the form of free medical products to certain medical retailers and dispensaries. In 2024, we donated products with a retail value of approximately $700,000 to these dispensaries, including flower, pre-rolls, cartridges, concentrates and ingestibles. We encourage people to reach out to their dispensary to determine if they qualify to participate in this program.

4. Are there major differences between what you produce for the medical market vs. adult-use?

Pursuant to state law and the Department of Consumer Protection regulations, flower with THC content above 30% can only be sold into the medical market. We are consistently producing All Hours flower with THC and terpene levels at or above 30 percent and 2 percent, respectively, providing our medical customers with high potency flower. One of our Mule Fuel medical flower offerings had a THC level of 30.7 percent and 3.1 percent terpenes, the highest combined THC/terpene flower we have ever grown. Since the introduction of All Hours in December, we have sold approximately 10,000 units of our high potency medical flower to date.

5. How is Theraplant positioning itself for the future?

A multi-million-dollar upgrade to our Watertown facility will be completed in May. This includes new lighting, irrigation and environmental systems for each of our propagation, vegetation and cultivation rooms and state-of-the-art trimming and production equipment. These improvements will enable Theraplant to consistently produce higher-quality flower and a diverse portfolio of innovative products for the medical and adult-use markets in greater quantities, all of which we believe will be a win-win for the Connecticut cannabis community.

The flower from our upgraded rooms will be hitting the market later this Spring, and we will continue to innovate. We just introduced a .5g 1:1 CBD/THC vape for the adult use market in March and this summer we will unveil our All Hours bubble hash pre-rolls.

Theraplant’s progress over the past year would not have been possible without the efforts of our talented and dedicated team. We share a collective passion to produce great products each and every day to achieve our mission of helping our Connecticut consumers, our only customers, live and feel better.

David Goldburg is the Chief Executive Officer of Theraplant, Connecticut’s first licensed cannabis cultivator, which is located in Watertown.