A bipartisan group of Colorado Senators has proposed legislation that would use a chemical compound to track marijuana plants. The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs) and Sen. Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo). The Daily Sentinel reported that measure SB29 would oblige Colorado State University to research and implement a tracking system using a chemical agent or compound in cannabis seeds and plants.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper offered his support for the bill at a press conference Tuesday morning. Hickenlooper said at the conference that the chemical scanning agents would be put into cannabis seeds and plants.
Gov. Hickenlooper told reporters that a professor from Stanford advised him on the technology. Hickenlooper said that oxygen isotopes are mixed into the water used to cultivate marijuana plants. The plant would then absorb the isotope, permitting law enforcement to track the plant. The governor also said that by tracking all of the marijuana plants cultivated in Colorado, they will be able to more easily locate those operating illegally on the black market.
The measure would also direct the Department of Revenue to grant the contract to the company who made the tracking system, upsetting competitors. One of the competitors, Source Certain International, tracks plants and minerals without adding any chemical agents or additives, instead using forensic techniques profiling the plant based on origin. The profile is then added to a database and can be accessed later to determine where the plant originated. The CEO of the company, Glenn McClellan, said that the proposal would eliminate companies like his because they are not using a scanning agent, adding that it was unconstitutional. Bill 29 will be heard by the Senate Business Affairs & Labor Committee after a hearing date is set.
Author Bio: Niko Mann is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles, California.
