Colorado Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force Meets Today
A task force set up by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is meeting for the first time today from noon to 3 pm to start the implementation process for Colorado Amendment 64. The Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force’s agenda is fairly simple:
- Welcome and Introductions
- Objectives, Expectations and Guidelines
- Issue Identification
Colorado Amendment 64 requires licenses for marijuana stores to roll out by the start of 2014, which means regulations, policies, and procedures need to be in place by the end of this next legislative session. The task force members are listed below:
- Rep. Dan Pabon, appointed by the incoming Speaker of the House;
- Sen. Cheri Jahn, appointed by the incoming President of the Senate;
- Rep.-elect Dan Nordberg, appointed by the incoming House Minority Leader;
- Sen.-elect Vicki Marble, appointed by the incoming Senate Minority Leader;
- David Blake, representing the Colorado Attorney General;
- Kevin Bommer, representing the Colorado Municipal League;
- Eric Bergman, representing Colorado Counties Inc.;
- Chris Urbina, the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment;
- James Davis, the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety;
- John Salazar, the Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture;
- Ron Kammerzell, the Senior Director responsible for the Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division;
- Christian Sederberg, representing the campaign to pass Amendment 64;
- Meg Sanders, representing the medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation industry;
- Craig Small, representing marijuana consumers;
- Sam Kamin, a person with expertise in legal issues related to the legalization of marijuana;
- Dr. Christian Thurstone, a person with expertise in the treatment of marijuana addiction;
- Charles Garcia, representing the Colorado Commission on Criminal & Juvenile Justice;
- Larry Abrahamson, representing the Colorado District Attorney’s Council;
- Brian Connors, representing the Colorado State Public Defender;
- Daniel Zook, an at-large member from outside of the Denver area;
- Tamra Ward, representing the interests of employers; and
- Mike Cerbo, representing the interests of employees.
The Colorado Amendment 64 campaign seems to be happy with the members of the task force, which I think is the best endorsement possible. “I think it’s a fairly balanced task force,” Brian Vicente, Co-Director of the Amendment 64 campaign, said according to the Denver Post. “There’s a lot of fair people from both the marijuana industry and law enforcement.”
There’s a lot to tackle between now and the start of 2014. What regulations will be in place for industrial hemp? What regulations will be in place for the stores? What measures will be taken to ensure that marijuana doesn’t leave Colorado? What assurance will the State of Colorado provide in the event that the federal government tries to go against the will of Colorado voters? These are just a sample of the massive amount of questions that will need to be answered in 2013. It’s the first time that a state has had to answer these questions, and I plan on watching the progress closely, along with what’s going on in Washington. What questions do you hope are answered by the task force, either today or in the near future? What an exciting time to be a marijuana reformer!
