Sensi Cannabis News: 2018 Legislative Review

As the Colorado Legislature adjourns for the 2018 session, Leland Rucker, senior editor at Sensi Magazine, joins us to take a look at how it went for marijuana consumers.

We’re still waiting on Gov. Hickenlooper to nod one way or the other on House Bill 1258, which would allow licensing for limited tasting rooms in already established dispensaries. Both houses passed it with bipartisan support. The state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division called it an “incremental approach.” The rooms would be limited to selling small amounts, no flower, only vaporizers and edibles. It would give consumers a chance to learn more about the products and get tourists off the streets and allow local governments to regulate “bring your own” cannabis clubs.

Senate Bills 29 and 279, two weird bills that would have used taxpayer dollars to fund the research and development for a single company to create a marijuana tracking technology, both failed, definitely a win for consumers.

House Bill 1286, which allows school nurses to give medical marijuana to a student with a medical marijuana registry card while at school, passed, a win especially for children with certain conditions that cause seizures. House Bill 1263 also passed, which adds autism  to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana.

Senate Bill 187, which creates the process to allow marijuana businesses to recycle fibrous waste to produce industrial fiber products, passed, another win since it’s now destroyed and can be used. House Bill 1259, which allows dispensaries to provide limited samples to managers for quality control and product development purposes, passed.

House Bill 1011 passed, which will expand the number of out-of-state investments in the marijuana industry in Colorado. An amendment  establishes the intent to address the barriers to entry for traditionally disenfranchised communities, including minorities, lower income entrepreneurs and women.

On the negative side, Senate Bill 261, which would allow doctors to write a medical-marijuana recommendation for any condition “for which a physician could prescribe an opiate for pain.” Studies are revealing that marijuana can serve as an alternative to opioids,” failed.

House Bill 1092, which would have created a pilot program to allow for marijuana delivery, failed again. It will return next year.

Senate Bill 211 would have allowed legalized marijuana consumption clubs, where people would have been allowed to bring their own product and consume, but it failed when too many legislators had cold feet about going this far. All in all, not a bad year for cannabis in the legislature.

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