Pubdate: Wed, 21 Aug 2013
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press

POT INDUSTRY IN COLORADO MAY BE LEGAL BUT ISN'T CHEAP

DENVER (AP) - Want to be in the legal pot industry in Colorado? Open 
your checkbook.

Colorado's pot regulators opened three days of hearings Tuesday to 
lay out licensing specifics before retail sales begin in January.

The proposed rules require would-be "ganjapreneurs" to pay up to 
$5,000 just to apply to be in the recreational pot business. 
Operational licenses cost another $2,750 to $14,000. Those who want 
to sell both medical and recreational pot would have to pay double.

Successful applicants also must pass a gauntlet of criminal 
background checks and residency requirements.

The result is expected to be an industry that will have as much red 
tape as green leaves. Colorado is trying to show it can strictly 
regulate and control a drug that has been operating in the shadows 
for decades, despite the advent of medical marijuana more than a decade ago.

Officials say steep application fees are needed to properly screen 
marijuana workers, checking fingerprints and screening out recent 
drug felons and people with possible ties to criminal drug cartels.

Colorado also will be screening future marijuana businesses to make 
sure no owners live out of state, a requirement set forth by state 
lawmakers earlier this year. The residency requirements - which apply 
from owners all the way down to so-called "bud-tenders" who man the 
counters and measure out marijuana - are a holdover from Colorado's 
existing medical marijuana industry.

The hefty operational license fees, according to state officials, are 
needed to pay for enforcement of the nascent industry. Plans call for 
an ambitious seed-to-sale tracking system in which Colorado will 
require video surveillance of all plants as they grow and are 
prepared, packaged and sold to customers.

The Department of Revenue aimed to use seed-to-sale tracking for 
Colorado's medical marijuana business, but the agency ran out of 
money before getting the program fully operational. State officials 
said Tuesday they plan to have the plant tracking system operational 
by October.

The department wants to avoid a budget shortfall and tracking 
glitches in the larger recreational market, so operational fees are 
high. Retail stores will have to pay $3,750 to $14,000 a year, 
depending on their size. Growers will pay $2,750 a year.

Some in the industry complained Tuesday that Colorado is setting high 
fees before knowing what it will cost to enforce a brand-new 
industry. The marijuana industry is especially upset about double 
licensing fees faced by sellers of recreational and medical pot.

Michael Elliott, head of the Denver-based Medical Marijuana Industry 
Group, complained that Colorado is charging steep fees with no 
"rational basis in the costs of enforcement."

He said pot shop owners should get a break on licensing fees if they 
want to sell pot to both medical patients, who will pay lower taxes 
and be able to buy up to 2 ounces, and recreational pot users, who 
must be over 21 and have lower purchasing limits.

A patient advocate who's not in the industry complained that the 
regulation should require advanced notice if medical shops plan to 
stop selling medical pot.

Teri Robnett worried that many of Colorado's 600 or so medical 
marijuana shops will switch to all-recreational to avoid doubling 
their fees, leaving patients without a designated provider.

"Patients ultimately will suffer," she said.

Once the retail stores clear all the tests for state licensing, 
they're not done yet. Local governments can add their own layers of 
specialized licensing and zoning requirements, taking up to a year to 
review applications for would-be recreational pot shops. Local 
governments can also ban the retail sale of marijuana altogether, as 
many have already opted to do.

The state's final retail pot regulations will be final by 
mid-October. Retail sales may begin Jan. 1, though many 
municipalities including Denver may not be ready by then and will 
start recreational sales later.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom