New Guidelines for Responsible Regulation of Medical Marijuana Businesses

[Matt Brown]

Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation, a coalition of medical marijuana patients, providers and growers supporting responsible regulation of medical marijuana, today released proposed guidelines for regulating medical marijuana dispensary businesses that would protect the commercial enterprises and their patients, and promote public safety.

The coalition’s guidelines support medical marijuana business regulations that set uniform state standards and provide for local control to ensure public input. The guidelines also incorporate best practices within existing regulatory structures and provide state and local governments with adequate taxes and fees.

“Both citizens and lawmakers want reasonable regulations that provide safe, responsible access to and use of medical marijuana,” said Matt Brown, executive director of Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation. “Colorado has a real opportunity to be a model for meaningful medical marijuana regulation—protecting the public and ensuring that dispensary businesses can continue to provide needed services to their patients.”

The Need for Responsible Regulation:
In 2000, Colorado voters passed Amendment 20, a constitutional amendment authorizing the use of medical marijuana by persons who are suffering from debilitating medical conditions. The amendment also creates exemptions to Colorado criminal law for medical marijuana patients and their primary care-givers. One of the areas of Amendment 20 needing further clarity is the role of medical marijuana dispensaries. Legislation to regulate the medical marijuana dispensary industry is expected to be introduced during the 2010 session of the Colorado General Assembly.

Key tenants of reasonable regulation include:
• Working within existing regulatory structures: There is no need to create a whole new regulatory structure; existing statutes and regulations for other businesses provide a starting point for medical marijuana regulations.
• Maintaining crucial medical oversight: Oversight of doctors should stay where it is today—at the Medical Board; standards should be set for future licensed medical marijuana healthcare training; and the state should also have enforcement authority to prevent unauthorized prescriptions.
• Avoiding “one-size-fits-all” regulation: Lawmakers need to accommodate non-commercial, as well as commercial-sized, dispensaries and growers, applying different levels of regulation based on magnitude of operations.
• Generating appropriate taxes and fees: Regulations should authorize sales tax payment at both the state and local levels—as well as impose specific, commercially reasonable fees to offset possible increased costs of government for local law enforcement, health inspectors, etc.
• Setting state standards and preserving local control: Statewide uniformity is a critical component of effective regulation, but Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation understands that local control, including opportunities for public input in zoning and siting processes, is also an important element.
• Ensuring public safety: Guarantee public safety though the non-adjacency of licensed dispensaries and growers to schools and other facilities; and enabling law enforcement officials to maintain focus on illegal activities outside of marijuana with responsible regulations.

A recent medicinal marijuana poll showed that Colorado voters overwhelmingly favor establishing state-licensed marijuana dispensaries for persons who are suffering from debilitating medical conditions. By a margin of 2-to-1, 64 percent of voters said they would approve proposals that would establish state-licensed marijuana dispensaries to cultivate and provide marijuana to patients with doctors’ recommendations.

“From Iraq veterans, to people with cancer and AIDS, to Crohn's disease patients, we serve a community of people that benefits greatly from medical marijuana,” said Brown. “We want to ensure that the businesses that offer this legitimate and effective treatment can be contributing, tax-paying, regulated members of the business community.”