Pubdate: Wed, 21 Aug 2013
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press

PURVEYING POT: LEGAL, BUT NOT CHEAP

Red Tape, High Fees Await Colorado's 'Ganjapreneurs'

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.

Successful applicants also must pass a gantlet 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, check fingerprints and scour records for 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 
to 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. The department 
doesn't plan to make the same mistake twice, 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.

Retail pot stores also will have to submit detailed floor plans to 
show they are meeting security requirements. They will have to get 
surety bonds to ensure contract completion in the event of contractor default.

Once the retail stores clear all the tests for state licensing, they 
won't be 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 also can ban the retail sale of marijuana altogether, as 
many have already opted to do.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom