The era of legal weed is finally dawning on La Plata County.

La Plata County’s new regulations for medical and recreational marijuana have been in effect since July 15.

When La Plata County commissioners voted to approve the final marijuana regulations, it was still unclear exactly how much money aspiring marijuana merchants will have to spend to get into the game. But ballpark figures suggest the start-up costs won’t be prohibitive. Commissioners estimated that a new medical marijuana license and application might cost about $4,000, while retail licenses could fetch about $6,000.

Though pot entrepreneurs are looking to capture legal dollars, infractions will be costly. According to state law, businesses that compromise public safety – for instance, by selling marijuana to people younger than 21 – can be fined up to $100,000.

La Plata County commissioners set the fines at half of the state maximum, meaning infractions such as selling more than the legal limit, supplying minors and mislabeling products will cost $50,000. Lesser violations, like failing to notify the local licensing authority of ownership changes, will be punished with fines of up to $10,000.

While marijuana facilities can operate on lots that contain residential dwellings, they are still banned from setting up shop within multiplexes and multifamily housing.

Under the new rules, all marijuana shops will be treated as Class II commercial buildings, meaning they’ll be subject to a review process, a compatibility analysis and possibly a neighborhood meeting.

cmcallister@durangoherald.com

An earlier version of this article misstated the date that the county’s pot regulations went into effect.