Despite Colorado laws passed in 2010 requiring medical marijuana businesses to be licensed, Colorado still has some unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries that are open and selling marijuana.
Businesses that were already open before the laws were passed had to apply for licenses, and were allowed to continue to operate while their applications for licenses were being reviewed. Nearly 4 years later, some applications for licenses are still being reviewed by the State.
Two of these unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries were recently shut down by the State for violations of the laws regulating operations of medical marijuana businesses. Alleged violations include growing more plants than allowed by law, not having the number of security cameras required by law, and not tracking plants to make sure that the plants grown in the grow operations go only to the stores, which is required by law. (The grow operations haven’t been shut down, just the stores.)
As reported in today’s Denver Post, the owner of the stores is suing the State, claiming that his stores shouldn’t have been shut down, because included in the list of alleged violations was a reference to a criminal case against the owner, related to his marijuana business. He is suing because he said that State regulators told him that they wouldn’t shut down his business as a result of this criminal case unless there was a criminal conviction.
The State has enough on him to shut his stores down without these criminal charges. (The charges are that he was “using his marijuana businesses to run an investment scam and to illegally distribute pot,” according to the Denver Post.) His dispensaries are in violation of State laws with or without these criminal charges.
This story is a good illustration of the mess Colorado has created for itself. Why do we still have unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries selling pot? And why do some of these business owners think they can get away with anything?
Regulate It 