DENVER – The Legislature and governor have had their say on marijuana. Now it’s everyone else’s turn.
Gov. John Hickenlooper signed six marijuana-related bills into law Tuesday. They specify how the retail pot business will operate, when users are too high to drive a car and how the Legislature would like the drug to be taxed.
“Clearly, we are charting new territory here. Other states haven’t been through this process the way we have,” Hickenlooper said.
Despite months of work by the Legislature, the shape of the country’s first legal marijuana industry will be determined by city councils, the U.S. Department of Justice and, crucially, the voters of the state.
“The hard part starts now. Getting this through the statehouse was the easy part,” said Kevin Bommer, a lobbyist for the Colorado Municipal League and a member of the task force that drafted much of the marijuana legislation Hickenlooper signed.
The Colorado Department of Revenue has until July 1 to write rules that implement the bills Hickenlooper signed, and it must start taking business license applications by October.
Medical pot dispensaries have exclusive rights through September 2014 to apply to become recreational marijuana stores.
But local governments will be able to ban retail marijuana stores inside their jurisdictions, and many of them are expected to take at least a temporary timeout on storefront pot sales.
No matter what happens with retail stores, Colorado adults now have a right granted through the state constitution to possess and use up to 1 ounce of pot.
Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana through Amendment 64 last November. Voters in Washington state passed a similar measure. But the drug still is illegal under federal law, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has not said how the feds will handle marijuana in Colorado and Washington.
Hickenlooper said his staff is in weekly contact with the Justice Department, and he thinks a decision is coming soon.
“We’re optimistic that they’re going to be a little more specific in terms of their approach to this issue,” he said.
Colorado voters aren’t finished with marijuana, either.
One of the bills Hickenlooper signed asks voters for two taxes on pot sales – a 15 percent wholesale excise tax and a 10 percent retail sales tax. The Legislature could adjust the sales tax up to 15 percent if it takes effect.
If voters reject the taxes, the state might have to cut its school budget to pay for marijuana inspectors, Hickenlooper said. Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, who was chairman of the Legislature’s special marijuana committee, made the same point.
“We need to make sure – and this is a plea to the people of Colorado – to pass these taxes in the fall,” Pabon said.
Hickenlooper opposed Amendment 64, but he said it is the government’s job to follow voters’ wishes. He still sounded less than enthusiastic about the situation, though.
“Clearly, this industry will create jobs. Whether it’s good for the brand of the state in terms of our economy is still up in the air,” he said.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
At a glanceWhat the laws for legalized pot say
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday signed six bills to regulate marijuana, which voters legalized in November. Here are highlights:
Retail sales: Rules will cover packaging, advertising, security, the financial structure of the industry and more. Colorado tried and failed to establish constant video surveillance of medical marijuana, establishing a seed-to-sale tracking system to keep the industry honest. The vaunted system hasn’t worked out as expected because of a lack of money, but the agency that oversees pot says it has learned its lesson and will have the money to follow through with seed-to-sale tracking next year.
Tax deduction: Medical marijuana businesses can write off their business expenses on their state tax returns – something that federal law does not allow.
Medical licenses: The state can issue medical pot licenses good for one year – and get licensing fees – even if local governments have not acted on a dispensary’s application.
Taxes: Voters will be asked to approve a wholesale excise tax and retail sales tax, both up to 15 percent.
Drugged driving: Drivers with more than 5 nanograms of THC per 1 milliliter of blood can be charged with driving under the influence, but defendants can argue in court that their high tolerance to marijuana makes it safe for them to operate a car at 5 nanograms.
Tourists: Visitors to Colorado will have purchasing limits of a quarter-ounce of marijuana in a single transaction. The law doesn’t ban adults older than 21 from possessing a full ounce, residents or not. But the purchasing limits were seen as an effort to reduce interstate trafficking and help persuade the federal government not to crack down on recreational sales.
Protecting Children: Colorado’s new laws aim to prevent youth marijuana use as much as possible. The laws create a new crime of sharing marijuana with someone younger than 21, an analogy to current delinquency laws and alcohol. The laws also mandate child-proof packaging for marijuana sales, and ban types of marketing thought to appeal to kids, such as cartoon characters in advertisements and packaging. The new 10 percent marijuana sales tax will be used in part on educational campaigns telling people younger than 21 to avoid the drug.
Marijuana clubs: Entrepreneurs in Colorado have been testing the new marijuana law in recent months by opening private clubs that allow communal pot smoking, but no sales, for a membership fee. The legislation tries to crack down on the spread of such cannabis clubs by stating that they’re not exempt from clean indoor air laws, unlike membership cigar clubs.
Sources: House bills 1042, 1238, 1317, 1318 and 1325, and Senate Bill 283
