The New Rules for MMJ in Colorado

Last year, we came together to become one of the first two states in the nation where recreational sale of marijuana would be legal. Our state has spent the better part of the year coming up with the rules that would govern that landmark decision — and the results are fully baked. Yesterday, Colorado released the rules that will govern over 30 medical marijauna dispensaries in Boulder County.

In case you pulled a wake-and-bake this morning, here are the results in a ziploc bag nutshell.

• Age: ID is a must. Buyers will have to show ID to prove they’re 21-years-old.
• Labels: Apparently they’re going the tobacco route and products must contain healthwarnings. Like excessive snacking?
• Wake-and-Work: There will be limitations on who can work in a dispensary. Maybe it’ll be like working at REI or Anthropology where your whole paycheck goes back to your employer.
• Seed Sales and Seed Tracking: Looks like more regulations will be coming if you’re a grower that’s producing for retail sale, you’ll have to track every plant. Interesting concept, given that you’re selling to a customer base that’s going to forget where they put the remote.
• Taxes: There’s a proposed 15% excise tax on recreational marijuana (oof). It’s up for vote later this year.

So, while you might have a bit longer to go until you can score pot-on-demand (retail sales don’t begin until January 1, 2014), you at least know the score. While most of the regulations are innocuous, that excise tax is the looming issue for the voters who put recreational pot sales into play in the first place. It’s pretty much a given how Boulder will vote, but let’s see how the rest of the state responds. I don’t anticiapte a problem from the more conservative red regions, as they’ll be happy to get a jab back at the “liberal hippies” who wanted legal pot in the first place. And in all honesty, 15% is a fair price to pay for a vice — we’ve been paying as much on alcohol and tobacco since…forever.

By Erica Napoletano of YOUR Boulder