HB 1284 (Colorado Medical Marijuana Regulation) Update

A majority of the medical marijuana industry in Colorado believe that enacting reasonable regulations are beneficial to the industry and patients in the state. Here is an update of where regulation stands now.

HB 1284 is the bill that was passed on April 20th that would put the dispensary industry under regulation by the Colorado Department of Revenue.

In order to operate lawfully, a dispensary would have to get a license. This would take effect July of 2011. Until then, dispensaries can operate as they are now.

The amount for the license is under debate, an industry lobbying group is saying that it will only be $1,800 per year, but Chris Romer has proposed an amendment that would impose a $35,000 per year fee.

This fee is supposed to go towards paying inspectors to regularly check on dispensaries, to make sure that they do not have too much medicine on hand.

The bill would also require dispensaries to grow 70% of their medicine on site.

The bill is full of a lot of other controversial items. One of these is a requirement that dispensary licenses only be granted to people of good moral character, whatever that means.

The bill also sets up a licensing system for primary caregivers, individuals who grow for patients without a storefront, that limits them to five patients, and forbids them from teaming up with other caregivers.

Why such regulation is needed is unclear. Colorado has not fallen apart, crime has not risen, and morality has not declined. The only thing that has happened is a large industry has been taken out of the shadows and put into the light, and in the process a lot of tax revenue has been generated, and a lot of economic activity has taken place.

There is a vague sense among some quarters that medical marijuana is "out of control" and the answer to that is a complicated licensing scheme, burdensome regulations and more expenses for patients.

The fight is not over though, and activists are lobbying our politicians to avoid making this mistake, and to change the bill to something more reasonable.

Because in all of this regulation, there is nothing that will help patients. Nothing in this will test medicine for pesticide residue, or contamination. The part of the bill about licensing edible makers makes clear that the state will not guarantee the safety of the edibles.

The only motivation behind this bill is a need to control, and the senate would be wise to not pass this bill.

If that happens, we can only hope that the governor vetoes it.