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Colorado House Bill 1284 highlights

Colorado House Bill 1284 was created to regulate the business side of Colorado’s medical marijuana industry.



■ Medical marijuana center owners, growers and infused-product makers were required to apply for a state license from the Colorado Department of Revenue by Aug. 1. After Aug. 1, any business that applies cannot open until July 1, 2011.

■ Medical marijuana centers were required to prove they were growing 70 percent of the marijuana necessary for their operation by Sept. 1.

■ Local municipalities can prohibit medical marijuana businesses.

■ The Department of Revenue has authority to create rules to govern the state’s medical marijuana industry.

■ The state should request that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration move marijuana from a Schedule 1 controlled substance to a Schedule 2 controlled substance, for pharmaceutical purposes, by Jan. 1, 2012.

■ Medical marijuana center owners are subject to security, storage and transportation, sanitation, labeling, record-keeping and tax-reporting requirements.

■ People are prohibited from operating medical marijuana businesses if they: are licensed physicians making patient recommendations; are younger than 21; owe taxes, are in default on student loans or owe child support; have a felony drug conviction in the past five years; are a law enforcement officer; have not been a resident of Colorado for at least two years.

■ Prospective medical marijuana business owners are required to submit their fingerprints for criminal background checks.

■ Medical marijuana centers cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school, alcohol or drug treatment facility, college campus or child care facility unless a local municipality imposes a different distance restriction. Centers can operate only from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

■ The location of grow operations are exempt from the Colorado Open Records Act.

■ Medical marijuana businesses are required to collect sales tax.

■ Smoking or consumption of marijuana and related products is prohibited at medical marijuana centers.

■ Fees paid by the medical marijuana industry can be used only by the medical marijuana program and not transferred or credited to any other state fund.

■ The Department of Revenue has the authority to revoke medical marijuana business licenses after an investigation and public hearing.

■ Medical marijuana centers are allowed to grow as many as six plants and possess as much as 2 ounces for each patient who has designated the center as his or her primary center, unless the patient has gotten authorization from a doctor to possess more than that amount.

■ Caregivers are limited to five patients, patients are required to have only one caregiver at a time, and caregivers are precluded from growing medical marijuana with each other.

■ As of July 1, 2010, half of the first $2 million in sales taxes generated by the sale of medical marijuana must be given to the Colorado Department of Human Services for juveniles and adults with substance abuse or mental health needs, and the other half must be given to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing for screening, intervention and treatment referrals for people at risk of substance abuse.

Source: Colorado Revised StatutesSource: Colorado Revised StatutesSource: Colorado Revised Statutes


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