Another Chapel Smoke Shop Disappears

by Thomas Breen

A smoke shop that has spent the past four years operating out of the original Ann Taylor clothing store location downtown has closed — after state inspectors found that the retailer was still selling illegal cannabis products, despite a court order telling them to stop.

That recently shuttered smoke shop is called Anesthesia. It was located at 968 Chapel St. right off of the Green.

Anesthesia opened in 2022 in a storefront that for six decades was home to Ann Taylor, a high-end clothing chain that catered to female professionals and that got its start in the Elm City. That original Ann Taylor shop sold its last dress and closed its doors for good in July 2020 in the early months of the pandemic after the store’s parent company filed for bankruptcy.

On Tuesday morning, Anesthesia’s front door bore a sign reading “Closed.” A look through the front windows revealed that all of the store’s furniture and products — including bongs, hookahs, lighters, rolling papers, and more — had been removed.

Anesthesia’s closure comes several weeks after another smoke shop a block away, the Chapel Smoke Shop at 908 Chapel St., also disappeared.

Just like Chapel Smoke Shop, Anesthesia was the subject of a recent raid by local law enforcement and state inspectors — who found “large amounts of cannabis” on site. (While Connecticut has legalized adult-use cannabis, only state-permitted dispensaries are allowed to sell such products. Anesthesia does not have a license to legally sell cannabis.)

That bust is detailed in a March 30 motion for contempt filed by state Attorney General William Tong’s office in a state court case called State of Connecticut v. Anesthesia Convenience & Smoke Corp.

That court case began in January 2024, when the attorney general sued Anesthesia for allegedly selling illegal cannabis products in violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. A stipulated judgment from December 2024 prohibited Anesthesia from selling cannabis unless licensed by the state Department of Consumer Protection. That judgment also saw Anesthesia pay the state a $25,000 civil penalty.

“Defendants have entirely failed to comply with the Stipulated Judgment,” the state’s March 30 motion reads. “According to DCP drug control agents, Anesthesia Convenience continues to operate in blatant disregard of the injunctive provisions within the Stipulated Judgment, the laws of Connecticut, and the public health and safety of its community.”

The motion states that DCP inspectors visited Anesthesia on Feb. 2, 2026, and March 3, 2026, “and determined that Anesthesia Convenience was offering for sale high-THC cannabis products. During both visits, DCP found large amounts of cannabis, including cannabis products that were: packaged in a manner that would be appealing to children; packaged in a manner that resembles other well-known, non-THC containing, commercially available products; advertising THC levels far in excess of what a licensed adult-use cannabis retailer could sell in Connecticut; and containing labels affixed that would lead a reasonable consumer to believe such products were part of the legal regulated cannabis market in Connecticut.”

In particular, on Feb. 4, the New Haven Police Department reportedly confiscated “more than eight pounds of cannabis products, including 411 individual units of illicit cannabis products, that Defendants were offering for sale. Despite New Haven Police Department confiscating the cannabis products after the first DCP visit, Defendants restocked and continued to sell the product in blatant and willful violation of the laws of Connecticut. On March 3, 2026, DCP identified more than four pounds of cannabis products, including 199 individual units of illicit cannabis products, that Defendants were offering for sale.”

The state is therefore asking the court to find Anesthesia in contempt of the terms of the December 2024 stipulated judgment, “and to fashion an appropriate remedy to coerce compliance with the requirements of that judgment.”

On April 10, state Superior Court Judge Lisa Kelly Morgan issued an order scheduling an in-person hearing for the state’s motion for contempt. State court records show that that hearing was scheduled to take place on May 26.

Anesthesia’s owner, Fadhel Shaif, did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article.