Welcome to the Growery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!
The watchful eyes of state regulators are about to get more intent on Colorado’s medical marijuana industry.
Regulations for the production and sale of medical marijuana that go into effect Friday include the installation of video surveillance equipment that can be remotely monitored by state inspectors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Employees of medical marijuana dispensaries and grow operations must be credentialed by the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division of the state Department of Revenue after going through an FBI background check.
The movement of marijuana has to be tracked and documented from "seed to sale." For example, when a package is moved from a growing facility to a dispensary, it must be weighed and certified at both locations, all under the gaze of video cameras.
The rules will result in higher costs for marijuana businesses, said Steve Ackerman, owner of Organic Alternatives in Fort Collins and president of the Northern Colorado Medical Marijuana Council. The state-mandated video systems alone will cost businesses $20,000 to $25,000.
And the level of scrutiny from the state feels a lot like "Big Brother is watching," he said. But if that's what it takes to stay in business, centers will follow the rules.
"Although this might be the most highly regulated and watched industry in this state, I believe it is for the safety of our customers and our businesses to have these things in place," he said. "I agree with it."
The stringent rules may be enough to drive some dispensaries and grows around the state out of business, Ackerman said, although he's heard no indication local businesses might have to shut down.
Fort Collins resident Tom Spratte, a quadriplegic who uses medical marijuana to control spasms in his legs, said the tighter controls shouldn't adversely affect patients who use centers.
The rules provide a level of security that patients appreciate, he said. And a center that conducts its business with professionalism inspires confidence in customers.
"I need a place where I can go and get a quality product and feel safe," he said. "I can't grow for myself … and I wouldn't want to go through someone other than a center."
State regulation of medical marijuana falls under the auspices of two agencies: the Department of Public Health and Environment deals with patients and doctors while the Department of Revenue enforces regulations on businesses and issues licenses.
The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division plans to set up offices statewide to monitor compliance with state law, including an office in Fort Collins, said public information officer Julie Postlethwait.
I agree I think quality is important especially when being used as medicine on a sick person....But then there is the side of me that is saying 'here we go', regulation that is.
Quote: State interference in economic life, which calls itself economic policy, has done nothing but destroy economic life. Prohibitions and regulations have by their general obstructive tendency fostered the growth of the spirit of wastefulness. - Ludwig von Mises
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: geokills 3,076 topic views. 0 members, 8 guests and 11 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]