In December, SmartPlanet reported
that former Microsoft executive James Shively planned to launch a
premium marijuana business now that the state of Washington has decreed
American citizens 21-years old or above can possess, produce and
distribute marijuana.
Shively said that premium marijuana should be similar to a “fine
congnac, a fine brandy, [or] a fine cigar,” and used by responsible
adults. Now, the former manager wants to open pot trade with Mexico and
create the U.S.’s first national brand of retail marijuana.
In a news conference, Shively said that the businesses could mean
“minting more millionaires than Microsoft,” and he is currently in the
midst of acquiring medical-marijuana dispensaries in both Washington and
Colorado.
The former Microsoft employee wants to establish a proposal to
regulate the trade of cannabis between the U.S. and Mexico, although
international rules that ban legal pot will likely be an issue. Likening
rules to the Berlin wall and the fact the build is crumbling every
day, Shively remains undettered and sees the opportunity for profit in
an industry where there is no “real” established brand.
“I’ve just fallen in love with the plant,” the former Microsoft
executive commented. “Especially in the medical realm I’ve gone from
entrepreneur to advocate to activist, seriously
Marijuana Legalization: Colo. Gov. Hickenlooper
Signs First Bills In History To Establish A Legal, Regulated Pot Market
For Adults
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."
Tvertd added: "Colorado is demonstrating to the rest of the nation
that it is possible to adopt a marijuana policy that reflects the
public's increasing support for making marijuana legal for adults.
Marijuana prohibition is on its way out in Colorado, and it is only a
matter of time before many more states follow its lead."
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.
HB-1317 also bans cities from opening pot shops and bans marijuana
collectives that could skirt the new marijuana regulatory laws
by growing and providing pot to members tax-free and below cost.
The bill also requires stores to
treat marijuana magazines like pornography by placing them behind the counter.
House Bill 1318,
outlines the taxes related to the legal marijuana market, proposing a
15 percent excise tax and 10 percent sales tax. However, due to
Colorado's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights which requires that Coloradans vote
on any tax increase, state voters will still need to weigh in on the
tax question in the 2014 election.
Amendment 64 states that the first $40 million raised from the 15
percent excise tax would go to to school construction. And although many
voters who supported A64 did so because it could raise money for
schools, lawmakers are concerned that even fans of that excise tax rate
and the use of its revenue
could be turned off by a total tax rate of 25 percent, not including additional state and local taxes that could lead to marijuana taxes exceeding 30 percent in some areas.
The AP's Kristen Wyatt reported that some state lawmakers,
fear that voters will reject one or both of the tax proposals leaving the state stuck with the tab for enforcing pot sales but without the budget to pay for it.
And although Coloradans are known to reject increased taxes when it comes to even popular state services --
take K-12 education improvement, for example -- when it comes to legal marijuana, state voters appear to be ready to buck that trend.
According to a recent survey from
Public Policy Polling,
77 percent of Colorado voters support the 15 percent excise tax --
which Amendment 64 calls for and which is earmarked for public school
construction -- as well as an additional 10 percent sales tax to cover
the cost of regulating recreational marijuana sales. Only 18 percent of
those surveyed were opposed to increased taxes on legal pot sales. The
survey of 900 registered Colorado voters was conducted by Public Policy
Polling from April 15-16.
In a statement, Amendment 64 backers said that state officials have
told them that the cost to the state to enforce recreational marijuana
regulations would not be greater than $30 million and said that the
proposed 25 percent in taxes would still likely yield more than $60
million.
Hickenlooper has expressed support for the tax measure. "I'll certainly promote the marijuana question,"
Hickenlooper said to The Denver Post. "We need to make sure we have the resources to have a good regulatory framework to manage this."
Senate Bill 24 proposes the development of a regulatory framework for
the commercial cultivation, processing, and distribution of industrial
hemp.
Recently in Springfield, Colo. hemp farmer
Ryan Loflin planted the nation's first major industrial hemp crop in almost 60 years.
House Bill 1325, a controversial measure which sets a THC-blood limit for Colorado motorists at 5 nanograms.
Under HB 1325, drivers caught with 5 nanograms of THC, the
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana which produces the "high"
sensation, in their blood would be considered too stoned to drive and
could be ticketed similarly to a person who was considered too drunk to
drive.
As in previous years when marijuana DUI bills have come up for
debate, opponents say that the 5 nanogram standard is too low for
frequent pot smokers, especially medical marijuana patients, who
regularly have this level of THC in the bloodstream and therefore, if
passed,
these people would lose their driving privileges, The Denver Post reports.
But HB-1325 allows for a person who has been charged with having 5 nanograms of THC in their blood to
rebut the charge that they are too impaired to drive.
"For example, if you did not exhibit poor driving, you can put that
on as evidence to say, 'Look my driving was not poor, I'm not unsafe to
operate a motor vehicle,'"
Rep. Mark Waller (R-Colorado Springs) said during earlier hearings of an identical bill which was killed.
