Pubdate: Tue, 24 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold
Page: 1A

STATE CLEARS WEED SALES

Under Tight Deadlines, the Enforcement Division Has Approved 348
Licenses.

Colorado on Monday became the first state in the country to issue
special licenses for recreational-marijuana businesses.

After weeks of scrutiny of applications, officials at the state's
Marijuana Enforcement Division slipped 348 approved licenses into the
mail and sent them out to stores, product-makers and cultivation
facilities. Those businesses could begin producing and selling
marijuana to anyone over 21 on Jan. 1, assuming the businesses also
have the approval of their local governments.

The number includes 136 marijuana shops, most of which are in Denver.
But stores with approved state licenses also pop up in places from
Telluride to Alma to Garden City.

Marijuana advocates hailed the finalized licenses as a watershed
moment for Colorado's legalization of cannabis, which voters approved
in November 2012.

"Colorado will be the first state to have a legal marijuana market for
adults," said Mason Tvert, a Denver-based spokesman for the Marijuana
Policy Project and one of the leaders of Colorado's legalization push.
"We expect it to set an example for other states."

Opponents of legalization, though, said the licenses are another step
in what they fear is an increasingly disastrous pot policy.

"We're seeing... a massive marijuana industry growing before our
eyes," said Kevin Sabet, who is with a national anti-marijuana group
called Project SAM. "I hope it's not going to be too late before we
realize that the road we're on is going to produce a massive public
health problem and public safety problem in Colorado."

State marijuana regulators have previously said they would make a
decision on the hundreds of recreational cannabis business
applications submitted in October by the end of the year. And it
appears they denied very few-if any- applications in doing so.

At the end of October, the state had received 136 applications for
recreational marijuana shops, 28 applications for marijuana-infused
products companies and 174 applications for marijuana-growing
facilities. More applications trickled in after the October deadline,
and state officials said some of those might also be acted upon by
Jan. 1.

The approved licenses sent out Monday are for 136 stores, 31 products
companies, 178 growing facilities and three marijuana-testing labs.
Julie Postlethwait, a spokeswoman for the Marijuana Enforcement
Division, said she couldn't confirm whether any applications have been
denied.

Other state officials praised the division for meeting tight deadlines
in issuing the licenses. Amendment 64, the measure that legalized
marijuana use and limited possession in Colorado for people over 21,
gives the state only 90 days to make a decision on an
application.

"It has taken an enormous team effort to be able to issue state
licenses in the timelines identified in Amendment 64," Barbara Brohl,
the head of Colorado's Department of Revenue, said in a statement.

Because would-be pot shops face significant challenges in obtaining
local licenses, the state's approval on Monday does not mean that 136
recreational marijuana stores will be open on Jan. 1.

For instance, in Denver-where the state has signed off on
applications for 102 recreational marijuana stores - only eight stores
have so far cleared all the hurdles in the local licensing process.

And not every business that receives the necessary state and local OKs
before the end of the year will be selling recreational marijuana on
Jan. 1.

Norton Arbelaez, co-owner of River Rock Wellness dispensaries in
Denver, said he does not plan to add recreational sales until probably
mid-February because of all the uncertainty in the new market.

"There are just so many questions in terms of pricing, is there going
to be scarcity, or some kind of lack of product in January that is
going to lead to the price of the product doubling or tripling?" he
said. "There's a lot of unknowns."
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