{"id":9329,"date":"2021-02-05T01:46:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T01:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=4446326"},"modified":"2021-02-05T01:46:52","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T01:46:52","slug":"a-colorado-democrat-wants-to-cap-thc-levels-in-marijuana-products-at-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/a-colorado-democrat-wants-to-cap-thc-levels-in-marijuana-products-at-15\/","title":{"rendered":"A Colorado Democrat wants to cap THC levels in marijuana products at 15%"},"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\/a-colorado-democrat-wants-to-cap-thc-levels-in-marijuana-products-at-15\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/a-colorado-democrat-wants-to-cap-thc-levels-in-marijuana-products-at-15.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/02\/04\/colorado-marijuana-thc-cap-bill-cannabis\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"4446326\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The lone medical doctor in the Colorado legislature is looking to cut back the THC content on the most potent cannabis products, among other changes that would have major impacts on the state\u2019s cannabis industry.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician and Thornton Democrat, said she is still revising the bill she plans to introduce this month, but one of the main provisions would ban legal marijuana products above 15% THC \u2014 the psychoactive compound responsible for the marijuana high. The ban would apply to flower and edibles. THC in flower products can top off close to 30%, while concentrates generally run at 70-80%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if it\u2019s the start of a conversation, I think it\u2019s an important conversation,\u201d Caraveo told The Denver Post on Thursday. \u201cWe led the way with legalization, but it doesn\u2019t mean we should never look at the issue of marijuana again. \u2026 My role as a physician is that you continue to look at the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A recent report on THC by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment raised red flags about high-potency products.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUse of cannabis with higher THC content (12-18% THC) was associated with diagnosis of a psychotic disorder in adulthood, regardless of childhood cannabis abuse status,\u201d the report said, adding that there\u2019s been an increase in consumption of high-potency concentrates among youth.<\/p>\n<p>But the report did not recommend the kind of steps Caraveo is talking about, which also include restrictions on marketing \u2014 possibly by banning billboards\u00a0and industry partnerships with endorsers who can influence child behavior.<\/p>\n<p>The bill is unlikely to advance at the legislature unless it\u2019s pared down significantly, Caraveo knows that much. It\u2019s not clear that she\u2019ll have any support from Democratic leadership in the House or Senate, and Gov. Jared Polis, who has veto power, has been a strong advocate for legal cannabis and also is generally resistant to sweeping regulatory measures.<\/p>\n<p>Many lawmakers also will be wary of passing a bill that would include the strictest new regulations on the industry since legalization of recreational marijuana in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not sure that the latest proposal I saw strikes the balance we need to protect the health of our youth and this voter approved industry,\u201d said House Speaker Alec Garnett, a Denver Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understand and for many years have shared the concern that many in our community have expressed about high potency marijuana products and the impact on the developing brain. It\u2019s important for stakeholders \u2026 to come together and have this discussion,\u201d he said, but noted: <em>\u201cW<\/em>e have created a thriving, billion-dollar, constitutionally protected, legislatively enacted and governmentally regulated sector that is creating jobs and is critical for our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Colorado\u2019s cannabis industry saw its first $2 billion revenue haul in 2020. And with Democrats in Washington, including U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, thinking they might finally be able to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/02\/04\/marijuana-banking-colorado-congress-cannabis-restrictions\/\">pass a banking bill<\/a> to let the cannabis industry move beyond largely cash, Caraveo\u2019s bill could be a tough sell.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>Mason Tvert, who co-directed the campaign to legalize cannabis in Colorado through Amendment 64 in 2012 and is now a partner at a cannabis policy and public affairs firm in Denver, said Caraveo\u2019s proposal is \u201ca prohibitionist\u2019s dream and public health expert\u2019s nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you limit the potency of a cannabis product, you\u2019re incentivizing people to take more of it in order to get a desired effect and incentivizing people to meet the demand for high-potency products through illegal means,\u201d Tvert said.<\/p>\n<p>But Caraveo said she\u2019s secured two Republicans who\u2019ll champion the bill along with her, and said she believes \u201cmany\u201d Democrats will back her. She said her goal is to sound the alarm about the potential harmful effects of certain high-potency products on children, and that she\u2019s observed some of these harms in her own practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have been engineered to be at very, very high concentrations, and no one\u2019s had much experience with that other than the last decade,\u201d she said. \u201cSo my goal is to reevaluate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>State Rep. Yadira Caraveo said she is still revising the bill she plans to introduce this month, but one of the main provisions would ban legal marijuana products above 15% THC <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8313,52,6895,7337,6907,6811,1547,8167,6892,6813,77,5577,9,5019,441,5236,1,3,18,61,1736],"tags":[8314,2632,6896,7338,6909,6816,4115,8168,6893,6818,2655,5580,5022,3015,5238,2622],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9329"}],"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=9329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}