News

Colorado Underage Marijuana Sales Compliance Reaches Record High 99%

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The Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division announced this week that the compliance rate for underage sales checks reached a record high 99% in 2022.

Marijuana Moment reports:

Colorado marijuana regulators announced this week that out of 285 underage sales checks conducted at state-licensed cannabis stores this year, there have been only four failures—a compliance rate of about 99 percent.

“While any failure is unacceptable,” the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) said in the latest issue of its quarterly In the Weeds newsletter on Monday, “we’re pleased to report this very high compliance rate which is on par with the compliance percentage from 2022.”

While compliance rates reached a record high last year, they have long been in line (or often better) than compliance rates for alcohol and tobacco sellers. This may be one reason why rates of teen cannabis use have not increased — and even declined — since Colorado legalized cannabis for adults back in 2012.

 

Colorado Leads Guest Column in The Colorado Sun

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The Colorado Sun published a guest column by Colorado Leads Board President Chuck Smith regarding the strong public support for legal medical cannabis in Colorado and the success of the state’s efforts to regulate it.

In the nine years since Colorado became the first state in the country to legalize adult-use marijuana, three things have become clear: the vast majority of Coloradans support legalization and consider cannabis as medicine (Opinion: After 20 years, it’s clear that marijuana is not ‘medicine’, Colorado Sun, Jan. 4).

They also believe kids should not have access to it unless it’s for medical treatment.

Nowhere is this more evident than in two Colorado laws that have just gone into effect. One closes a loophole by restricting young people with medical cards from accessing unlimited marijuana products, a practice known as “looping.” The other expands the right of students with “valid medical marijuana recommendation(s)” to access their medication at school.

Both laws are representative of the consistent collaboration among elected officials, regulators, and public-health experts and the cannabis industry, its customers, and patients. Over the last decade, the state has protected kids through responsible regulations, such as enhanced child-proof packaging, and strong education campaigns, while also recognizing that cannabis is critical medicine for post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, epileptic seizures, insomnia, and numerous other medical conditions.

The ability for multiple stakeholders and elected officials to fairly balance these complicated interests is the primary reason Colorado’s regulations are considered the strongest in the country and continue to be held up as a model for other states.

Read the rest of the article at The Colorado Sun.

As usual, Colorado leads the way, this time in pest control 

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With no guidance from the EPA, it is difficult for the marijuana industry to regulate pesticides and other safety concerns, but Colorado and other states are figuring it out and developing their own standards.

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Business News

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Good news for those seeking investors

A poll found that 46% of U.S. adults would consider investing in the marijuana industry.
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Bank of America began covering marijuana stocks.

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Pinnacol Assurance released its first-ever public data analysis of safety in Colorado’s cannabis industry.

 “As a whole is relatively safe compared with other cultivation, retail and manufacturing jobs in Colorado.”

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Dave Martyn, president of the Compass Cannabis chain of Canadian dispensaries…

sat down with Peter Miller, CEO of cannabis branding and packaging company SLANG Worldwide. When discussing exactly what the future of the global cannabis industry will look like, both Miller and Martyn suggested companies look to the past. Industry models in recreational cannabis forerunners like Colorado, Washington and of course Canada, serve as examples of what works.
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Hometown reporter and cannabis industry hits national mainstream news as a legitimate beat

Former cannabis reporter Alicia Wallace from The Denver Post is headed to CNN for their new cannabusiness coverage. CNN states: “CNN Business launches a new content initiative focused on one of the most dynamic growth industries in America: the cannabusiness sector. The next generation of entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers are captivated by this storyline, and CNN Business is making a new commitment to cover every aspect of the cannabis industry, from innovation to regulation.”

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