On Tuesday, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed several historic measures to implement marijuana legalization in the state, establishing Colorado as the world’s first legal, regulated and taxed marijuana market for adults.
Hickenlooper, a vocal opponent of marijuana legalization who said that “Colorado is known for many great things, marijuana should not be one of them,” signed the first bills in history to establish a legal marijuana market as well as starting the development of a regulatory framework for the cultivation, distribution, and processing of industrial hemp.
“Recreational marijuana really is new territory,” Hickenlooper said at Tuesday’s signing. And although the governor has expressed opposition to marijuana legalization in the past, he called today’s pot bills “common sense,” the AP’s Kristen Wyatt reported.
Jack Finlaw, Hickenlooper’s chief legal counsel, said although they were opposed to marijuana legalization, “the will of the voters needed to be implemented.”
“We applaud Gov. Hickenlooper for the initiative he has taken to ensure the world’s first legal marijuana market for adults will entail a robust and comprehensive regulatory system” said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, who served as an official proponent of Amendment 64 and co-director of the campaign in Colorado. “This marks another major milestone in the process of making the much-needed transition from a failed policy of marijuana prohibition to a more sensible system of regulation.”
House Bill 1317 and Senate Bill 283, set up the regulatory framework for Colorado dictating how recreational marijuana should be grown, packaged and sold.
Colorado adults, 21 and over, will be limited to purchasing up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use from specialty licensed retail shops that can also sell pot-related items such as pipes and accessories. Coloradans can also grow up to six plants — with only three flowering at a given time — in their home for personal use. Adults can possess up to an ounce of marijuana legally.
HB-1317 and SB-283 requires that retailers properly label all marijuana products including warning labels, serving size and information on THC potency. Only Colorado residents can own or invest in the stores, KDVR reports, and when the first stores open around Jan. 1, 2014, for the first nine months, only existing medical marijuana dispensaries will be able apply for the recreational sales license.
According to The Denver Post, the first recreational marijuana stores to open would only be able to sell the marijuana that they have grown themselves, but come October 2014, that restriction would be lifted so stand-alone growers and retailers could open up for business.
[Huffington Post]