In November, Coloradans voted to legalize marijuana — this week the state legislature passed the regulatory framework to implement the production, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana. The passage of this law was historical, making Colorado the first in the U.S. to pass a law regulating the sale and use of recreational marijuana.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has expressed opposition to marijuana legalization, has not threatened to veto the bills. Instead, Hickenlooper promises to sign the bills once they reach his desk.
“The adoption of these bills is a truly historic milestone and brings Colorado one step closer to establishing the world’s first legal, regulated, and taxed marijuana market for adults,” said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project and one of the authors of legislation Amendment 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use.
If and when Gov. Hickenlooper signs the bills related to marijuana, this is what Colorado residents can expect when stores open around Jan. 1, 2014:
— Marijuana will be sold in specially licensed stores that will also be able to sell pot-related items such as pipes.
— Only Colorado residents can own or invest in marijuana-related stores.
— Current medical marijuana dispensary owners will be the first residents eligible to apply to open recreational pot shops. Residents who do not own dispensaries will have to wait nine months before applying.
— Residents will be able to buy up to an ounce of marijuana, which is the maximum amount those without medical prescription legally can possess.
— All marijuana must be sold in child-resistant packages with labels indicating potency and edible products must have serving-size limits.
— Out-of-state visitors will be able to buy a quarter-ounce at a time.
— Incorporated marijuana collectives will be banned, as will marijuana coffee shops, smoking in bars and government-run marijuana stores.
— Marijuana-themed magazines will be treated like pornography and kept behind the counter.
— Drivers will be subject to a stoned-driving limit. Juries will be instructed to presume that anyone who tests above the limit was too high to drive.
— A ballot measure in November will ask voters to approve a 15 percent excise tax and an initial 10 percent sales tax on marijuana. The excise tax will fund school construction and the sales tax will pay for the regulation of marijuana stores.
Legislative victory
State Rep. Dan Pabon (D-Denver), who was involved with many of the marijuana bills, said, “We are in uncharted territory” and stressed that the bills would keep marijuana within Colorado’s borders and out of the hands of children — two issues the federal government finds particularly important.
The federal government has not yet announced how it plans to handle recreational legalization in Colorado and Washington, but as Mint Press News previously reported, President Obama has hinted in the last week that he may not approve of the new laws.
Talking to a group of young students at the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, Mexico, President Obama said he does not believe legalizing drugs will solve any problems. Obama did not specifically mention marijuana, however.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver has remained relatively quiet as well, but spokesperson Jeff Dorschner released a statement that the office is looking at “all aspects of this issue” in its deliberations on how to respond.
Colorado’s Attorney General John Suthers did add later that he believes Amendment 64 is bad public policy and that it’s difficult to do a good job implementing such policies.
“Given that the voters directed the legislature to implement Amendment 64, and given that the marijuana industry had an aggressive and well-financed lobbying effort, I believe the legislature did a credible job of implementing most of the Marijuana Task Force’s recommendations,” he said.
“I am particularly relieved that the General Assembly passed a marijuana-impaired driving statute. I was disappointed that the legislature did not adequately deal with the issue of child endangerment from marijuana use.”
Many opposed to Amendment 64 praised the regulations of the new industry that were laid out in the bills. A spokesperson for Gov. Hickenlooper said lawmakers “put in place a robust regulatory and enforcement framework, consumer safety measures and a dedicated funding source for state oversight of the industry.”
What about Washington?
Unlike Colorado’s Amendment 64, Washington’s Initiative 502 (I-502) that legalized recreational use of marijuana had many rules and regulations built in from the outset. Still, the Washington legislature is moving slightly slower than Colorado’s when it comes to finalizing rules before implementing legal recreational marijuana policies. The state expects to open recreational pot sales in March 2014.
Regulation of the industry in Washington will be regulated by the Liquor Control Board, which says a draft of Washington’s rules will be released on Thursday, May 9. The full draft of rules is expected to be released within the next week.