{"id":8557,"date":"2018-12-06T19:19:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T19:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3292577"},"modified":"2018-12-06T19:19:46","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T19:19:46","slug":"pot-delivery-one-possibility-as-colorado-prepares-for-a-year-of-change-in-marijuana-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/pot-delivery-one-possibility-as-colorado-prepares-for-a-year-of-change-in-marijuana-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Pot delivery one possibility as Colorado prepares for a year of change in marijuana industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/pot-delivery-one-possibility-as-colorado-prepares-for-a-year-of-change-in-marijuana-industry\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Few people in Colorado have frustrated the cannabis industry more than Gov. John Hickenlooper this year.<\/p>\n<p>When lawmakers decided to let people vaporize weed in dispensary \u201ctasting rooms,\u201d Hickenlooper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/06\/04\/marijuana-tasting-room-bill-veto\/\">vetoed it<\/a>. The next day, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/06\/05\/hickenlooper-vetoes-autism-medical-marijuana-bill\/\">rejected<\/a> a bill to allow more investment in cannabis companies, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/06\/05\/hickenlooper-vetoes-autism-medical-marijuana-bill\/\">another<\/a> that would have opened medical marijuana to people with autism.<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper had reasons for each veto, saying that he wanted to proceed cautiously. In the industry, though, it was seen as one last whammy from a governor who opposed legalization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe governor is facing a different world ahead of him, running for president. He\u2019s been trying for a significant time to distance himself from the marijuana issue,\u201d said Peter Marcus, a former politics journalist who now represents Terrapin Care Station.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think he was just sending a bit of a message. \u2018I\u2019m not the marijuana governor.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>But that all changes in January.<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cNew-age Budweisers\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>Gov.-elect Jared Polis <a href=\"https:\/\/polisforcolorado.com\/marijuana-accomplishments\/\">describes himself<\/a> as \u201cthe only candidate\u201d who helped pass marijuana legalization.\u00a0And the state legislature is looking much more Democratic. That means cannabis advocates \u2014 who were already winning Republican votes \u2014 now can aim higher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think this is a really good time and ripe opportunity to make sure we regulate this like the drug it is \u2014 and not the drug some people fear it to be,\u201d \u00a0said state Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Boulder County Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>Together, a slate of proposed changes could open the industry\u2019s next era \u2014 one with more money, larger companies and more ways to use the product.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you\u2019re going to start to see the new-age Budweisers and Coors Lights \u2014 the bigger companies that are going to be the name and the brand that we\u2019re all going to know,\u201d said Albert Gutierrez, CEO of MedPharm Holdings, a cannabis research and cultivation company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re going to probably have more variety from these companies, whether they\u2019re offering drinks or chocolate bars. But these companies are going to be the household names that people are going to come to know over the next 30, 50, 100 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, critics are <a href=\"http:\/\/v.fastcdn.co\/u\/b1351253\/38007176-0-Colorado-Kids-Are-Ca.pdf\">raising alarms<\/a> that legal marijuana is exposing kids to higher levels of THC, and offering them stealthy new ways to consume it.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>\u201cWe should all be able to agree that Colorado\u2019s increasingly potent marijuana products are harmful to youth and that we have a collective responsibility to protect Colorado kids,\u201d wrote Henny Lasley, the co-founder of Smart Colorado, in an email.<\/p>\n<p>The group wants Polis and the legislature to \u201cadopt common-sense protections for youth\u201d including limits on Colorado\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/pacific\/sites\/default\/files\/MED%202017%20Market%20Study%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf\">increasingly potent THC products<\/a>. They\u2019re also concerned about\u00a0potentially stealthy products such as cannabis inhalers, which are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/pacific\/marijuana\/news\/new-colorado-rules-increase-marijuana-product-safety-and-improve-business-efficiencies\">subject of new state rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Likely targets<\/h2>\n<p>The proposals that Hickenlooper vetoed are likely to return this year. They are:<\/p>\n<p><strong>More access to investment.<\/strong> One bill last year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/02\/28\/colorado-cannabis-out-of-state-publicly-traded-investors\/100142\/\">would have allowed<\/a> publicly traded companies to invest in and own cannabis businesses, and it would further loosen limits on out-of-state investment. More than a dozen other states already allow similar investment, according to state Rep. Dan Pabon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of our financing is coming from people who are lending money, and it\u2019s not cheap money,\u201d said Christian Sederberg, an attorney involved in the finance bill. \u201cIt creates an environment where it\u2019s difficult for people to grow their businesses, hire more people, modernize their infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Colorado cannabis is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2018\/02\/09\/colorado-marijuana-sales-december-year-2017\/98606\/\">$1.5 billion industry<\/a>, industry insiders claim companies are stretched thin because they can\u2019t take federal tax deductions or access major capital markets. Meanwhile, they\u2019re competing for new markets such as Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana revenue and sales are growing, but prices have been dropping as the market matures, Sederberg said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat will cause a number of mom-and-pop shops \u2026 to want to merge with folks that have lower-cost production, higher-level efficiency,\u201d\u00a0said Dean Heizer, chief legal strategist for LivWell, one of the state\u2019s largest cannabis companies.<\/p>\n<p>New investors will facilitate those mergers, buyouts and consolidations, he explained, though he doesn\u2019t expect a \u201cradical evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Hickenlooper said he vetoed the bill because it was \u201cpremature,\u201d in part because the U.S. Congress hasn\u2019t updated financial laws to include marijuana companies, and companies can\u2019t get access to most banking services. The governor also cited concerns about keeping criminal enterprises out of the legal market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Looser rules on social use.<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb18-1258\">HB 1258<\/a> was supposed to solve one of the biggest complaints about legal marijuana: There are few places to legally use it.<\/p>\n<p>The bill would have allowed marijuana retailers to open up \u201ctasting rooms,\u201d where customers could buy and vape small servings of the drug. Local governments would have decided whether or not to allow the rooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was the first cannabis public consumption law passed through a legislature in America,\u201d said Marcus, whose employer supported the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Hickenlooper argued that tasting-room customers would be using cannabis \u201copenly or publicly,\u201d which is forbidden in Colorado\u2019s legalization language, among other concerns.<\/p>\n<p>That \u201copenly or publicly\u201d language has confounded and irritated cannabis lawyers and entrepreneurs alike. This past June, Denver police ticketed tourists who were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/09\/29\/denver-crackdown-on-marijuana-tour-buses\/\">consuming on a cannabis tour bus,<\/a> prompting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/09\/29\/denver-crackdown-on-marijuana-tour-buses\/\">fight over what\u2019s \u201cpublic.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Singer argues that was never the intent of the amendment, and he said the legislature could re-examine it alongside a new tasting-room bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was (supposed to be) the idea of people not just smoking in other people\u2019s faces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Medical marijuana for autism.<\/strong> Last year\u2019s HB 18-1263 would have allowed people with autism spectrum disorder to get medical marijuana, which is cheaper and can be prescribed for children.<\/p>\n<p>The bill passed by strong margins, but it faced opposition from psychiatrists and the head of the state Health Department. Hickenlooper cited those concerns when he vetoed the bill, saying it could encourage \u201cmore young people to look at this as an antidote for their problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governor also ordered a state study of the treatment.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3293679\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pot-delivery-one-possibility-as-colorado-prepares-for-a-year-of-change-in-marijuana-industry.jpg\" alt=\"Cannabis grows at the LivWell Grow Warehous Thursday, December 6, 2018, in Denver.\" width=\"5973\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis grows at the LivWell grow warehouse Thursday, December 6, 2018, in Denver.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Stretch goals<\/h2>\n<p>And then there are the loftier goals:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Delivery.<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb18-1092\">HB 18-1092<\/a> would have created a \u201cpilot program\u201d for marijuana delivery in willing cities. It initially included both recreational and medical cannabis, with the test lasting two years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have liquor delivery. We have prescription drug delivery,\u201d Rep. Singer said. \u201cWe have patients who can\u2019t even get to a dispensary because they\u2019re too sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans killed the bill on a party-line Senate committee vote. It faced criticism from law enforcement, which asked whether couriers could be targets.<\/p>\n<p>This year,\u00a0\u201cit\u2019s something where we have to take the temperature of folks,\u201d Singer said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got this whole new blank slate of (legislators) that don\u2019t have a voting record right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Microbusinesses.\u00a0<\/strong>California recently created a new option for entrepreneurs.\u00a0The \u201cmicrobusiness\u201d model in that state allows businesses to grow, process and sell cannabis on one small site, kind of like a small beer brewery.<\/p>\n<p>In Colorado, Singer and Rep. Leslie Herod are interested in a variant: They could allow small businesses to operate under the licensing umbrella of a bigger company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019ve unfortunately found out is that it\u2019s the people with access to capital who are the people who are succeeding in our new legal regimen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopefully, this is an opportunity to ensure that the same people who were victimized in the drug war have the opportunity to participate in this market.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Smaller adjustments<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s not just about introducing new laws. The state\u2019s regulatory programs for medical and retail marijuana are scheduled to \u201csunset,\u201d or expire, in 2019. That means legislators and government staff are working to revise and renew the rules.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1QeSxuD7cqil3L5mLuInWze2BsyYpCSQj\/view\">state report<\/a> includes these suggestions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Streamline licensing and ownership rules.<\/li>\n<li>Give a state agency more power to shut down unlicensed operations.<\/li>\n<li>Allow dispensaries to sell hemp products for human consumption.<\/li>\n<li>Require testing of CBD products, similar to THC products.<\/li>\n<li>Loosen criminal background restrictions.<\/li>\n<li>Unify some of the rules about cultivating retail and medical cannabis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>None of these discussions will grab as much attention as the legalization of retail marijuana five years ago. But they will shape how the cannabis industry looks in the next five years, and which role Colorado plays in an expanding national market for the drug \u2014 for better or for worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Colorado legislators will consider legalizing marijuana delivery and making it easier to invest in cannabis businesses, among other initiatives in 2019. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6907,6811,6857,6847,6813,77,5577,6815,5667,56,9,5019,441,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6909,6816,6859,6850,6818,2655,5580,6820,5673,2636,5022,3015],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}