Category: Then

Building Bench Strength – Management Changes in the Enforcement Division

Although building bench strength is universally recognized as a necessity in the private sector, unfortunately, due to the way budgets are set up and funding is appropriated to state Departments, it is very hard to develop bench strength in government agencies.  In the Enforcement Division, we had to be creative.  And it’s a balance, right?  You want to be careful with taxpayer dollars, but at the same time you want to ensure the Departments and the Divisions are taken care of.  Continue reading “Building Bench Strength in the Enforcement Division”

While regulating medical marijuana did present some challenges, it also presented opportunities.

But first, let me give you some context, within the Colorado Department of Revenue, there are four mission divisions: 1) the Division of Tax is responsible for assessing and collecting $11 – $13 billion a year; 2) the Division of the Lottery has contributed more than $3 billion to the state of Colorado; 3) the Division of Motor Vehicles issues more than 1 million licenses for drivers and more than 5 million vehicles a year, and 4) the Enforcement Division regulates and oversees the Gaming, Horse Racing, Automotive Dealers, Liquor & Tobacco, and Marijuana industries.

Interestingly, even though my Department was responsible and responsive for so much, the only thing most people wanted to talk about was marijuana regulation! Continue reading “Regulating Medical Marijuana”

Regulating medical marijuana was not without its challenges.  HB10-1284 allowed existing medical marijuana businesses to continue to operate pending licensure so long as they applied to the MMED by August 1, 2010.

The medical marijuana legislation wasn’t effective until July 1, 2010, which meant there was barely a month to get things in order; we started about 1500 businesses in the hole. Continue reading “Implementing the Commercial Regulatory Program for Medical Marijuana in Colorado”

By 2010, there were hundreds and hundreds of marijuana businesses in operation.  In response to the growing unregulated commercial medical marijuana industry, the Colorado State Legislature became one of the first governing bodies to enact legislation to implement a regulatory structure for commercial licensed medical marijuana businesses when it enacted HB10-1284.

This piece of legislation created the regulatory structure for medical marijuana; naming the Executive Director of the Department of Revenue as the State Licensing Authority, creating the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division (“MMED”, now “MED”), and setting up a licensing construct for cultivations, products manufacturers, and centers – all of which were required to undergo financial and criminal background checks.  Additionally, it required all employees in the industry to be licensed and undergo criminal background checks. Continue reading “HB10-1284 – Concerning Regulation of Medical Marijuana or the Birth of the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division”

Between June 2001 and January 2009, the Medical Marijuana Registry grew to 5,051 patients who had received a medical marijuana registry card. While all of the debilitating conditions identified in Amendment 20 were represented by patients on the Registry, the overwhelming condition identified on the registry was severe pain – 87%.

During 2009, the majority of the patients – from 63% to 68% – designated a primary caregiver to grow marijuana for them. Given that the number of patients grew from 5,051 to 41,039, during that same time frame meant that a significant number of plants were grown by caregivers. Continue reading “The Green Crosses – Where Did They Come From and What Did They Mean?”

In order to understand the process we went through to regulate adult-use cannabis in Colorado, it is important to understand Colorado’s journey regarding medical marijuana regulation.  We experienced some challenges while we were trying to get our arms around the medical marijuana regulatory process, as was to be expected.  I’ll tell you how we worked through them, and how we applied the lessons learned when we rolled out Amendment 64.

On November 7, 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 20 by 54% of the vote. If you are from Colorado, that percentage should sound familiar.  Colorado was on the forefront of the movement making medical marijuana legal – only four years after California voters approved California Proposition 215. Continue reading “Amendment 20 – The Start of Legalized Medical Marijuana in Colorado”