This coming Friday, those in Colorado's medical marijuana industry - dispensary owners, caregivers, customers and patients - will find themselves subject to a new set of controversial and decidedly more intrusive government regulations.
Enacted as part of House Bill 1043, these regulations will require
medical marijuana dispensary owners throughout the state to do the following:
- Scan the medical marijuana registry cards of every customer who purchases medical pot
- Conduct background checks on all employees to ensure they have not been convicted of drug-related felonies
- Conduct video surveillance of all growing pot plants and pot products to ensure they are not stolen or sold illegally
- Close their shops at precisely 8 pm
While there have been rumors of discontent among both customers and medical marijuana dispensary owners, most seem willing to comply with the new regulations and move forward.
"I get a sense from patients they're accepting of the requirements," said Ryan Cook, a Denver-area dispensary owner. "We'll see how it evolves, but right now, people just want a safe and affordable way to get their meds."
Interestingly, a group that is actually rather dissatisfied with the new requirements is caregivers, meaning those who grow marijuana for patients.
Under the new regulations, caregivers who grow for at least five patients are required to register the location of the plants with the state.
For many caregivers, this increased state oversight is simply too much and they are opting out of the medical marijuana business altogether.
"I'm not crazy about going on a registry that might be obsolete in a couple years," said Bret Kantola, a Denver-area caregiver who grows medical marijuana for only two people but who is deciding to stop growing altogether. "It's been very, very turbulent, and it's been one thing after another."
Still other caregivers are contemplating a different approach.
According to reports, many caregivers are considering the creation of so-called "marijuana collectives" where patients could sub-lease warehouse/grow space from caregivers and legally grow their own marijuana.
While state officials have already indicated that such an action could be illegal, some caregivers are prepared to fight in the state court system.
"[Marijuana collectives] allow patients who are upset with all the regulation going on here to maintain their constitutional rights [to use and grow medical pot]," said Timothy Tipton, a Denver-based caregiver. "We have the constitutional right to do this, and we're not giving up."