In Nov. of 2012, fifty-five percent of Colorado’s locals voted in Amendment 64 which turned out to be pretty historic. This document ended prohibition of marijuana under Colorado Law. In Dec of 2012, Amendment 64 went into effect making private use and limited possession of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age or older. In turn, state legislature also permits cultivation, processing, and sale of all marijuana products. This ends up establishing a system that regulates Marijuana to be distributed and taxed just like alcohol as of Oct 2013.
If you currently own a recreational or medical shop, or if you’re planning on opening one, there are some things you should definitely be aware of. Some people think that they can just walk in and open up a store to sell weed, but there are many hoops you must first go through before you can legally run a shop or grow business.
Here are some facts you must know about Amendment 64:
- Adults aged 21 and older may grow up to 6 marijuana plants. No more than half may be mature flowering plants. This means that 3 may be adults, and the other 3 must be newly planted. This allows for you to have up to 3 plants cycling out at a time. The plants must be in a locked space and you may legally keep all the bud it produces as long as it stays in the same place it was grown.
- You may possess up to 1oz. of marijuana on you while traveling as long as it’s within Colorado’s borders.
- You may give marijuana as a gift to anyone you know as long as they’re 21 or older. The limit is 1 oz.
- Marijuana is regulated similar to alcohol, so you will receive similar offenses for driving under the influence.
- Consuming Marijuana in public is still considered illegal in Colorado. Do not get caught smoking out in public or on federal land because you will receive a ticket for doing so. It may have been decriminalized, but you still want to avoid doing it since it’s illegal and will be on your record.
- This amendment has allowed for licensing to be issues for businesses who want to cultivate, manufacture, test, or sell marijuana as a retail product.
- Marijuana is prohibited anywhere on the property of Denver Airport and it’s also highly illegal to take any marijuana with you outside of the state of Colorado.
Amendment 20 was also passed. This amendment refers to the legalization of medical marijuana in Colorado.
Here are some facts about the medical side of marijuana legalization that you should know about:
- Amendment 20 was approved in Nov. of the year 2000. It allowed for the use of cannabis in the state for any patient which was approved and has written medical consent from a doctor.
- Under this law, any medical marijuana patient is allowed to carry up to two ounces of marijuana on them at a time.
- Patients are also allowed to grow up to 6 plants, but 3 must be maturing while the other 3 are not.
- Doctors have the ability to recommend to the state for patients to carry more than the amounts listed above. This is in the case that a patient may need more than the law allows for. It all depends on the patients specific needs.
- Medical patients were still under fire because of the federal law. There were a lot of places that were still at risk of being shut down since federal law still doesn’t allow for marijuana use or sale. However, a law did pass recently that will help put a stop to the federal government shutting down dispensaries and medical marijuana retail locations.
- Patients may not use marijuana in public places, or any place that may be of plain view.
- Patients may not use cannabis in any area that may put others at risk, like any business where the employees are operating heavy machinery after medicating.
- Patients are still unable to fill a prescription at a pharmacy. Unfortunately, because it’s still against federal law, pharmacy’s are not allowed to sell it to patients and you must go to a licensed medical dispensary to purchase your cannabis.
- Because federal law still does not recognize this, businesses may still use that as an argument to ban use of marijuana by their employees.
There have been a lot of positive and a few negative effects from the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. Many people moved to Colorado in hopes that they could work in the cannabis industry and ended up becoming homeless because they were unable to meed the requirements necessary to land a job in the industry. You may not work in the industry if you have felony convictions, and you must also have a 2-year CO residency. Because of this, there is definitely a new strain that has grown on organizations that help the needy, such as the Salvation Army and Urban Peak to name a couple.
There are a few other states that have also decided to legalize marijuana. In states like Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, Marijuana has been legalized. Some of the states that have Decriminalized weed are: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and Vermont.
Here is a list of states where marijuana has been approved for Medical Use: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Washington, D.C.
If you’re planning on opening your own retail shop, be sure to know that there are other laws you must abide by. We write these articles here at SecurityCameraKing.com so that you are aware of different things you need to know in order to legally get into the marijuana business. One of the important things you may want to look up is the legalities on the type of surveillance system that you’ll need in your place of business. Whether it’s a grow warehouse or a retail store, you can call us today and we will help you get all set up with everything you need in order to get your permit approved during your inspection. We even send you a certificate to help pass the inspection. Contact us today so we can answer any other questions you may have!
