Colorado’s groundbreaking amendment is signed into law.
Amendment 64 is something you may want to familiarize yourself with because it’s the first law of its kind anywhere in the world. In the November 2012 elections 55.32% of Colorado residents voted ‘YES’ on Amendment 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21. Only 50% of Colorado residents voted for Obama in that same election. Washington State also voted on a similar bill called
I-502 in November that passed with 55.70% voter support. Washington’s new laws and regulations are set to go into effect on December 6, 2013. For a different perspective on Washington’s Initiative 502,
Sensible Washington offers some caution.
Colorado however, had no plans of waiting to institute its new freedom and made the recreational (yes – recreational – not just medicinal, but recreational) use of marijuana legal for anyone over the age of twenty-one as of December, 2012. This past week we saw Governor John Hickenlooper sign our country’s very first set of regulations and laws regarding the selling, growing, and consumption of marijuana.
The plant is still federally classified as a schedule 1 drug along with heroin, acid, and meth. Schedule 1 drugs are classified as such because they have been deemed as very dangerous drugs with no medicinal value at all. We of course know that marijuana has many medicinal possibilities that range from pain management and aiding with ADD to the treatment of PTSD, which has shown tremendous support to veterans coming home from war. So why does marijuana remain on the Schedule 1 list, while cocaine sits comfortably at Schedule 2 with opiates?
More and more states are tired of waiting for the Federal Government to address such inconsistencies and are opting to change their state constitutions with the hope that if enough states follow suit, the Federal Government has to address the topic. And even though Obama has said that he will not go after people in states where marijuana is legal as long as they comply with their respective state laws, in my opinion, we’ve learned that very little of what he says is true. We should also not forget that Obama has admitted to enjoying days of smoking pot himself, and yet supports laws against possession. Laws which have “tens of thousands of people [languishing] in federal and state prisons for marijuana offenses in a typical year, and just about everybody who gets busted for pot spends time locked up.”
So back to Colorado. Before you quit your job, tell off your boss, and sell your house; let’s get familiar with the new laws that will be the initial testing ground for all out legalization of marijuana for recreational use. If you thought the laws would be long and slightly confusing, you’re right! Here are some of the highlights that I found of particular interest and will link you to the complete list of approved standards and regulations. (Please note that none of these laws and regulations affect the laws and regulations in place around medical marijuana).
- In order to open or operate a growing facility, a manufacturing facility or a retail shop, you have to have lived in Colorado for TWO YEARS first, complete with a Colorado driver’s license. When it comes to working in cannabis related fields it states that you have to be a resident of Colorado, but doesn’t expressly say if you have to have lived there for 2 years as well.
- Adults (over the age of 21) may grow up to three mature and three immature plants in a private locked space, and be in possession of all marijuana produced from those plants, as long as they remain ON PREMISE.
- Colorado residents may travel with up to an ounce on their person, and may give, as a gift, up to one ounce to another adult, and purchase up to an ounce from a licensed distributor. Visitors to Colorado may purchase up to a quarter ounce per single transaction, and may not have a doggy bag to take back home.
- All marijuana related publications must be kept behind the counter of any establishment selling them. (This is treating marijuana magazines like ‘High Times’ in the same manner as pornography, and is a new statute that wasn’t in place before the legalization of marijuana.) This new standard is already being challenged in court by three different cannabis publications.
- Driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal. More than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC is considered impaired.
- Legitimate, taxpaying business people, and not criminal actors, will conduct the sale of marijuana (This one had me baffled. Who’s that aimed at?)
- It is still illegal to smoke publicly, openly, or in a manner that endangers others.
- All application, licensing and renewal fees shall not exceed $5,000, to be adjusted annually to reflect inflation, unless it is established that more money is needed before the Department of Revenue can conclude its business.
- All marijuana must be packaged in childproof containers with the name and percentage of THC printed on the package.
- The date that the Department of Revenue will begin processing applications for people looking to sell, manufacture, or grow marijuana is October 1, 2013.
What’s noticeably missing from these laws and regulations is something that Washington’s I-502 took direct aim against; hashish and THC compounds, which could still be seen as grey areas in Colorado. There was also nothing I could find that specifically stated that people convicted of a felony, or those with previous possession charges were prohibited from applying for a license to grow, manufacture or sell marijuana. Nor did I see anything stating that they would have a more difficult time attaining licensing as those without, which could be fairly forgiving of Colorado or an issue to be addressed at a later time.
For commonly asked questions about Colorado’s Amendment 64, check out this spot.
For endless information about Colorado’s new A64 laws check Colorado.gov.