Colorado first state in country to finalize rules for recreational pot

[Source: John Ingold, The Denver Post]

In 136 small-type pages, Colorado this week became the first state in the country to adopt final rules for recreational marijuana businesses.


The rules, released late Monday, cover everything from pot shop licensing to inventory tracking to marijuana packaging to advertising. They also represent the most comprehensive effort to date to take the once all-illegal marijuana market and harness it into what supporters say will be controlled, refined legitimacy.

Applications to open a recreational marijuana store can be filed starting in only three weeks. The first stores are expected to open around Jan.1, 2014.


Among the highlights of the rules:

• All marijuana stores, cultivation facilities and marijuana-infused products makers must be licensed and pay fees ranging from $2,750 to $14,000.
• Until October 2014, recreational marijuana stores must grow themselves almost all the pot they sell.
• All businesses must use the state's forthcoming online inventory tracking program to document their marijuana's journey from cultivation to processing to sale.



Complete story: Colorado first state in country to finalize rules for recreational pot