Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jul 2013
Source: Westword (Denver, CO)
Column: Ask a Stoner
Copyright: 2013 Village Voice Media
Contact: http://www.westword.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters
Website: http://www.westword.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1616
Author: William Breathes

HOW MUCH THC IS IN MY MARIJUANA?

Dear Stoner: The pot is the same whether it's medical or 
recreational, right? So why aren't any of the stores open to the public yet?

Iggy Nint

Dear Iggy: Keep your organic-hemp shorts on. There's a roughly 
six-month process here, with deadlines dictated by Amendment 64 
itself. While you're right that the herb isn't going to be any 
different, the state still views this as an entirely new industry and 
has to set rules accordingly. And right now, we're only about a third 
of the way there.

According to the amendment passed in November, the state had to have 
rules guiding the industry in place by July 1. The Colorado 
Department of Revenue managed to do that, but the rules are only 
temporary; the DOR didn't have enough time to collect public input 
between the legislature's passage of industry-setting bills in May 
and the July 1 deadline. What the DOR released is a very bare-bones 
set of rules spanning some 65 pages, but that is likely to grow once 
people have had their say at meetings planned for August and September.

The next step in the implementation plan is for local municipalities 
to come up with their own rules for recreational cannabis shops. 
Those local rules have to be in place by October 1, when the DOR's 
new Marijuana Enforcement Division begins accepting applications from 
would-be recreational marijuana shops. Most municipalities haven't 
begun that process officially, but expect to see the city councils 
and county commissioners that haven't already banned pot shops 
outright to start talking about their rules soon.

Once they've been licensed at both the city and local levels, shops 
will be able to open their doors to the 21-and-up public. The MED has 
until January 1 to start approving applications, and if for some 
reason the MED hasn't gotten to an application by that time, a store 
can open with just the approval of its local municipality.

And that's just some of the work ahead. Voters still have to approve 
a 25 percent tax (10 percent sales and 15 percent excise) on 
marijuana this November. Those taxes will be piled on top of local 
sales taxes, pushing the total tax above 30 percent. It's unclear 
what would happen if that ballot measure fails, but officials we've 
spoken with say it would probably prevent any neon-green "open" signs 
from clicking on.

Dear Stoner: What is the difference going to be between pot shops and 
medical pot shops?

Connie Soomer

Dear Connie: For the customer, the biggest difference is going to be 
a noticeable lack of the now-ubiquitous green crosses around town. 
That, and the 30 percent-plus tax you'll be paying if voters approve 
the tax measure this fall that affects recreational marijuana but 
doesn't apply to medical cannabis.

Unlike medical marijuana dispensaries, the recreational shops won't 
have to keep the personal information found on your driver's license; 
they'll just be checking ID to make sure you're over 21. Though the 
paranoid among us would tell you differently, there's no central 
stoner database in Colorado...nor are there plans for one.

For owners, the major difference is that the $500 application fees 
for existing medical dispensaries to open as recreational stores are 
one-tenth the amount that people looking to open a brand-new 
recreational shop will have to pay. The idea there is that the 
existing MMJ shops have already had to go through most of the 
background checks and other costly steps, and there's no need to make 
them pay through the nose twice. Once a business is licensed, though, 
it will have to pay an annual fee of $2,500 per facility, whether 
it's a grow house, dispensary or testing facility.

The stupidest differences are rules that prohibit selling or giving 
away anything that isn't related to marijuana - including tobacco (no 
more blunts), alcohol, food and even non-alcoholic drinks. Yes, 
according to the state, it is apparently against the law to offer 
your customers a Coke or even a sip of water. We would hope that MED 
enforcement officers use common sense with that one.

Dear Stoner: I see buds advertised with 20 percent THC and things 
like that. Is that a scale on how strong the THC from 0 to 100 
percent is, or is that the total amount per plant?

Eddie in Erie

Dear Eddie: The percentage you see is by weight, so an OG Kush with a 
23 percent THC rating would theoretically have 23 grams of THC for 
every 100 grams of cannabis. But that really isn't the case. Tests 
are usually done on buds only - no stems - and most shops are only 
going to send out the top, best buds to be rated. Another issue is 
that each lab is testing strains against a different set of chemical 
standards for THC and CBD, and many use different methods, each 
capable of producing different results. What most lab geeks do agree 
on is that the ratio of cannabinoids remains the same, no matter 
who's doing the testing or where the material came from on a plant. 
So plants with equal parts CBD and THC in one test will generally be 
equal if tested by another lab. Basically, what you're bringing home 
won't necessarily be the exact same as what the tests displayed - but 
it's a good estimate, and it's better than no information at all.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom