Pubdate: Thu, 09 May 2013 Source: Detroit News (MI) Copyright: 2013 The Detroit News Contact: http://www.detroitnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126 Author: John Ingold, The Denver Post Page: 15A COLO. POT BILLS' APPROVAL A 'GAME-CHANGER' Legislature First to OK Laws Regulating Recreational Use, Sales Denver -The Colorado legislature made history on Wednesday, becoming the first state legislature in the country to pass laws regulating recreational marijuana sales and use. Wednesday morning, the state Senate approved two measures on taxes for marijuana and on rules for marijuana stores. The House later agreed with changes made in the Senate and sent the bills to Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign them. The votes came six months and two days after voters approved Amendment 64, which legalized limited marijuana possession and sales for those 21 and older and launched the regulatory effort that led to the bills. Marijuana advocates hailed the legislature's votes as momentous. "The passage of these bills marks a major milestone toward the creation of the world's first legal, regulated, and taxed marijuana market for adults," said Christian Sederberg, one Amendment 64's authors. Opponents of legalization, including Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, were more guarded. "[G]iven that the marijuana industry had an aggressive and well financed lobbying effort, I believe the Legislature did a credible job of implementing" the regulatory suggestions of a state task force, Suthers said in a statement. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Colorado, which considers all marijuana possession illegal under federal law regardless of state law, declined to say what kind of impact the bills will have on the office's position. Several lawmakers reacted to the final votes Wednesday with trepidation. Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, said he has reservations about a system of more open and legal access to marijuana but felt compelled to support the bills. "This is a true game-changer for our state," Scheffel said. "And so I think it is important that we do our best to implement the right regulatory environment and fund it." House Bill 1318 would impose a 15 percent excise tax and a sales tax initially set at 10 percent on recreational marijuana sales. Voters this November would have to give their approval of the tax rates before they could take effect. The money would be used for school construction and for regulation of marijuana stores. Many of the rules for those stores are spelled out in House Bill 1317, the second bill approved by the Senate on Wednesday. Under the bill, marijuana stores would need to be licensed by the state and owned by Colorado residents. For the first nine months, only current medical-marijuana dispensary owners could apply to open recreational pot shops. The first recreational marijuana stores to open would have to grow what they sell, but wholesale growers and stand-alone retailers would be allowed starting in October 2014. The Senate amended the bill to bar cities from operating pot shops, as Aurora had considered doing, and to ban incorporated marijuana collectives that would skirt pot-shop regulations. The stores are authorized by Amendment 64, the marijuana legalization measure that Colorado voters approved in November. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt