Truth Seeker
New Member
Lawmakers late Thursday introduced a long-awaited bill of proposed regulations for recreational marijuana, moving Colorado one step closer to a legal pot marketplace.
The 57-page bill contains the most contentious ideas endorsed by a special legislative committee for how recreational marijuana businesses should operate and be structured. A second bill, also introduced late Thursday, lays out a proposed tax structure for marijuana that voters would be asked to approve.
Lawmakers are also expected to introduce a third bill, containing non-controversial proposals for the marijuana industry.
All three bills must be passed in the state House and Senate – requiring a minimum of six different votes each – by May 8, the end of the legislative session. If they are not, it is likely lawmakers would consider a special session this spring to try again, since this is the only opportunity the legislature has to weigh in on marijuana regulations before pot stores open around the beginning of 2014.
The main regulation bill introduced this week – House Bill 1317 – is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon, of Denver, and codifies how marijuana stores are to operate and be governed. Among the bill's major points:
- Marijuana growers and sellers could operate separately, opposite of the requirements for medical-marijuana dispensaries.
- Only Colorado residents could own or work in recreational marijuana shops.
- Owners of medical-marijuana dispensaries would have a three-month window starting in October where only they would be allowed to apply for recreational pot shop licenses.
Whether growers and sellers should have common ownership or operate separately sharply split lawmakers on the special marijuana committee, and it is unclear how the issue will play out in the full legislature.
Pabon, who co-chaired the special committee, said he believes lawmakers will find consensus on the issue.
"The regulatory framework is less important than making sure you have the resources to fund the enforcement," he said.
But the division was apparent in the comments of Sen. Cheri Jahn, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who was the special committee's other co-chair. Jahn said Pabon didn't show her a final draft of the bill before it was introduced.
"I was very surprised," she said. "But, you know, we're different chambers."
The bill on marijuana taxes, House Bill 1318, is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jonathan Singer, of Longmont. It creates a 15 percent special sales tax on recreational marijuana and a 15 percent excise tax on pot transfers between growers and sellers. Voters would have to sign off both taxes in November before they would go into effect.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: denverpost.com
Author: John Ingold
Contact: Contact Us - The Denver Post
Website: Colorado legislature unveils long-awaited marijuana regulation bills - The Denver Post
The 57-page bill contains the most contentious ideas endorsed by a special legislative committee for how recreational marijuana businesses should operate and be structured. A second bill, also introduced late Thursday, lays out a proposed tax structure for marijuana that voters would be asked to approve.
Lawmakers are also expected to introduce a third bill, containing non-controversial proposals for the marijuana industry.
All three bills must be passed in the state House and Senate – requiring a minimum of six different votes each – by May 8, the end of the legislative session. If they are not, it is likely lawmakers would consider a special session this spring to try again, since this is the only opportunity the legislature has to weigh in on marijuana regulations before pot stores open around the beginning of 2014.
The main regulation bill introduced this week – House Bill 1317 – is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Dan Pabon, of Denver, and codifies how marijuana stores are to operate and be governed. Among the bill's major points:
- Marijuana growers and sellers could operate separately, opposite of the requirements for medical-marijuana dispensaries.
- Only Colorado residents could own or work in recreational marijuana shops.
- Owners of medical-marijuana dispensaries would have a three-month window starting in October where only they would be allowed to apply for recreational pot shop licenses.
Whether growers and sellers should have common ownership or operate separately sharply split lawmakers on the special marijuana committee, and it is unclear how the issue will play out in the full legislature.
Pabon, who co-chaired the special committee, said he believes lawmakers will find consensus on the issue.
"The regulatory framework is less important than making sure you have the resources to fund the enforcement," he said.
But the division was apparent in the comments of Sen. Cheri Jahn, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who was the special committee's other co-chair. Jahn said Pabon didn't show her a final draft of the bill before it was introduced.
"I was very surprised," she said. "But, you know, we're different chambers."
The bill on marijuana taxes, House Bill 1318, is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jonathan Singer, of Longmont. It creates a 15 percent special sales tax on recreational marijuana and a 15 percent excise tax on pot transfers between growers and sellers. Voters would have to sign off both taxes in November before they would go into effect.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: denverpost.com
Author: John Ingold
Contact: Contact Us - The Denver Post
Website: Colorado legislature unveils long-awaited marijuana regulation bills - The Denver Post
