Colorado’s Marijuana Task Force has issued 58 recommendations on how recreational marijuana should be grown, sold and taxed. We need to pay close attention to how things are rolled out, as the ‘Colorado System’ will no doubt become the norm for many other states. Recommendations are offered for the following activities:
- Creating and financing the new regulatory structure
- Taxation of marijuana through both excise and sales taxes, to support regulatory and enforcement costs, as well as other state programs including several suggested by this Task Force related to marijuana education and studies
- Transitioning to a system that regulates and enforces both medical and adult-use marijuana
- Specifying requirements for licensees, operations, and interactions with consumers
- Consumer safety issues such as signage, marketing, advertising, packaging, labeling, restricting THC content in infused products, restricting additives and adulterants in marijuana products, and encouraging good cultivation and laboratory practices in the industry
- Educating citizens about the effects and risks involved in marijuana use and conducting studies on the effects of marijuana use on public health and safety
- Amending statutes to reflect the legal status of limited, adult-use marijuana in Colorado and to indicate penalties for certain marijuana offenses, including the treatment of juveniles in possession and the transfer of marijuana to persons under 21 years of age
- Specifying rules for home cultivation of marijuana
- Requesting resolution of federal restrictions on banking and allowable tax deductions for legal marijuana businesses in Colorado
- General guidance for employers and employees, property owners, the enforcement of contracts, and the legalization of industrial hemp in Colorado
- Forming a follow-up task force in three years, to review the recommendations of this Task Force in light of the actual implementation of Amendment 64.
