The interim committee on the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Legalized Marijuana met with some disturbing news from the Governor’s state office on marijuana regulation in Colorado.
Andrew Freedman, Director of the Marijuana Coordination for the state of Colorado, told the committee that the challenge to Amendments 20 & 64 which allows for the medical and recreational uses of marijuana is that a gray market is emerging under the guise of caregivers and patients using the ability to get the maximum 99 plants to sell for profit mostly out of state. “Even when law enforcement gets close to the bottom of finding they aren’t patients or caregivers, the criminals then flip and say “OK, we are now a cooperative – we are growing plants for our friends to assist them.” Friedman says the large loopholes created in Amendments 64 and 20 have allowed criminals to grow and sell out of state often for $5,000 to $6,000 a pound for marijuana.
The Governor’s office is exploring ways to stop the gray market simply because of exposure and risk to youth and growth of organized crime. Guardrails mentioned by the office are in draft-proposal only and admittedly needs much more discussion. Ideas are:
- Statutorily define “assist” as it exists in Amendment 64. The goal is that patients can still be assisted, but will have to grow their six plants at their residence, hopefully addressing the “cooperative” loophole.
- Explore a hard plant count number limit – Colorado has a 99 plant limit – far beyond any other states whose average number is 12 plants.
- Tie the legal ability to register as a caregiver or patient that complies with local zoning restrictions – This would allow for zoning restrictions more than financial penalties but if one is going to have the protections of Amendments 20 & 64 then you would have to meet local zoning restrictions and requirements. There could still be growing in a commercial setting but through local zoning laws.
- Create a low tech tagging system – something being done in Rhode Island, allowing local law enforcement to do site checks to ensure plants are actually being delivered to patients. A zip tie with a patient number where the deliverer keeps one part of the receipt and patient keeps the other.
- Starting a fund for local law enforcement and DA’s – so they can prosecute gray and black market cases. Law enforcement reports that they need resources to prosecute these cases, particularly needing help in rural settings where there are less resources.
The Governor’s office is considering the above as a package to address the gray market where they’ve already seized millions of dollars in assets, guns, thousands of pounds of marijuana, thousands of dollars in cash and credit cards. Interim committee legislation discussion will continue now through December 2016 prior to the 2017 legislative session.
