See attached, there is a new round of rule making. The most significant of which is the production caps work group that is going to decide how much marijuana producers can grow. Please consider written comments.
Retail and
Medical Marijuana Rulemaking Announcement
October 7, 2013
Background Information
On May 28, 2013, Governor
Hickenlooper signed three bills into law that address the implementation of
Amendment 64, including requirements for the State Licensing Authority (“SLA”)
to adopt rules governing retail marijuana establishments. In order to comply with those requirements and
those found in Amendment 64, the SLA adopted emergency rules governing retail
marijuana in the state of Colorado on July 1, 2013. The emergency rules were then refined through
a permanent rulemaking process during which the SLA hosted over forty hours of
working groups meetings, reviewed nearly 300 written comments and held two days
of formal hearings. After working
extensively with stakeholders and reviewing all public input, the SLA adopted
the permanent rules for retail marijuana and revised rules for medical
marijuana on September 9, 2013.
Through the permanent rulemaking
process, the SLA identified four public safety issues, (1) an interim production
cap for retail marijuana cultivation, (2) concentrate production safety, (3) edible
product consumer safety, and (4) mandatory testing and random sampling, that it
required additional information and public input on prior to adopting rules. Therefore, the SLA intends to initiate a
follow-up rulemaking in order to promulgate clear and thorough rules that will
address these important public safety issues.
This announcement provides information to members of the public
interested the upcoming rulemaking.
Written Comments
The SLA
encourages interested parties to submit written comments on the issues to be
addressed during this rulemaking by November 13, 2013, so that the SLA can
review comments prior to the rulemaking hearing. Written comments will also be accepted until
the rulemaking record is closed following the hearing.
The SLA will
accept all written comments but strongly encourages written comments to be
submitted on Form DR 2477. The form is
available on the DOR’s Amendment 64 page, which can be found at: www.colorado.gov/revenue/amendment64.
Please print,
complete and save Form DR 2477 as a separate document and then submit the Form
via e-mail. Written comments and
completed Forms DR 2477 may be emailed to: dor_ruleform@state.co.us. In addition, you may submit completed Forms
DR 2477 to:
Colorado
Department of Revenue
Executive
Director’s Office
RE: Rules
1375 Sherman
Street, Room 409
Denver, CO 80261
Written
comments will also be accepted at the rulemaking hearing and at all stakeholder
working group meetings.
Stakeholder
Working Groups
Stakeholder Working Groups &
Members: The SLA is
organizing four stakeholder working groups to engage in depth discussions about
specific issues related to the regulation of retail marijuana and medical
marijuana. The following is a list of
the stakeholder working groups and the members for each group.
·
The Interim
Production Cap Working Group
o Chair: Lewis Koski
(Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Ron
Kammerzell (Department of Revenue)
o Jordan
Wellington (Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Jack
Finlaw (Office of the Governor)
o Adrienne
Russman (Office of the Governor)
o Rob
Shapiro (Attorney General’s Office)
o Kathy
Sasak (Colorado Department of Public Safety)
o Tom
Raynes / Chris Haslor (Colorado District Attorney’s Council)
o Chief
John Jackson (Greenwood Village Police Department)
o Lt. Ernie
Martinez (Denver Police Department)
o Rachel
O’Bryan (Smart Colorado)
o Andrew
Livingston (Vicente-Sederberg)
o Mike
Elliot (Medical Marijuana Industry Group)
o Matt
Huron (Good Chemistry and Sweetwater Partners)
o Cheri
Hackett (Botana Care)
o Collon
Kennedy (Colorado Communiqué)
o Eric
Speidell (The Green Solution)
o Lauren
Davis (NORML)
·
The Concentrate
Production Safety Working Group
o Chair: Jordan Wellington
(Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Lewis
Koski (Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Ron
Kammerzell (Department of Revenue)
o Jennifer
Weaver (Attorney General’s Office)
o Jeff
Groff (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
o Chris
Olson (County Sheriff’s of Colorado)
o Jeff
Pothast (Certified Industrial Hygienist)
o Samantha
Walsh (United Food and Commercial Worker’s Union Local 7)
o Kimberly
Ryan (Labor Attorney)
o Chloe
Villano (Clover Leaf University)
o Ronn
Nixon (Consumer Advocate)
o Sarah
Londberg (Canndo Consulting, LLC)
o Ralph
Morgan (Organa Labs)
o Elliot
Klug (Pink House Blooms)
o Brad
Melshenker (The Greenest Green)
o Ryan
Cook (The Clinic)
·
The Edible
Product Production Safety Working Group
o Chair: Jordan Wellington
(Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Lewis
Koski (Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Ron
Kammerzell (Department of Revenue)
o David
Blake (Attorney General’s Office)
o Jeff
Lawrence (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
o Danica
Lee (Director of Public Health Inspections, Denver)
o Lane
Drager (Boulder County Public Health)
o Lisa
VanRaemdonck (Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials)
o Eric
Bergman (Colorado Counties, Inc)
o Teri
Robnett (Patient Advocate)
o Mark
Slaugh (iComply)
o Christie
Lunsford (Dixie Elixirs)
o Timothy
McDowell (marQaha)
o John
Whiteman (Mountain High Products, LLC)
·
The Mandatory
Testing and Random Sampling Working Group
o Chair: Jordan Wellington (Marijuana
Enforcement Division)
o Lewis
Koski (Marijuana Enforcement Division)
o Ron
Kammerzell (Department of Revenue)
o Jan
Zavislan (Attorney General’s Office)
o Jeff
Groff (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
o Laura
Pottorff (Colorado Department of Agriculture)
o John
Scott (Colorado Department of Agriculture)
o Beverly
Bookout (Boulder Police Officer)
o Laura
Borgelt (Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, Clinical Pharmacy
and Family Medicine Department)
o Michael
F. Wempe (Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Core Facility at the University
of Colorado, Anschutz medical campus.)
o Sandra
Solin (Smart Colorado)
o Heather
Despres (Laboratory Director for CannLabs)
o Russ
Cohen (PH2 Labs)
o Joseph
Evans (Lab Director for Steep Hill Labs)
o Brian
Swanton (Tree Line Premier Dispensary)
o Andy
LaFrate (Mountain High Manufacturing)
o Brooke
Gehring (Patient’s Choice)
Please note that the SLA reserves the right to change the
composition of any stakeholder working groups as it deems necessary throughout
the process.
Stakeholder Working Group Descriptions: The stakeholder working groups assembled for
this rulemaking will be tasked with discussing a discrete and limited set of
issues. Below is a description of the
topic to be discussed by each working group.
The Interim Production Cap Working Group will discuss temporary
limits on retail marijuana production that will be in place until the SLA has
collected sufficient information, including receipt of an independent market
study scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2014, to determine how best to
permanently manage production.
The Concentrate Production Oversight Working Group will
discuss various methods of concentrate production and the regulations that are
necessary to address concerns related to worker and product safety.
The Edible Product Production Oversight Working Group will
discuss the development and implementation of a public health program to
oversee edible product production.
The Mandatory Testing Program Working Group will discuss the
creation and implementation of a mandatory testing and random sampling program for
retail marijuana, retail marijuana concentrates, and retail marijuana products.
Meetings & Locations: The stakeholder working groups will meet
according to the following schedule:
o The Interim Production Cap Working Group
§ October 15, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at the Old Supreme Court Chamber, Colorado State Capital, 200
E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80203
§ October 16, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at the Old Supreme Court Chamber, Colorado State Capital, 200
E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80203 (if necessary)
o The Concentrate
Production Safety Working Group
§ October 21, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at the
Department of Revenue, 1881 Pierce Street, Lakewood, CO 80214; Entrance B,
Conference Room 110
§ October 25, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at
the Department of Revenue, 1881 Pierce Street, Lakewood, CO 80214; Entrance B,
Conference Room 110 (if necessary)
o The Edible
Production Safety Working Group
§ October 29, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at
the Department of Revenue, 1881 Pierce Street, Lakewood, CO 80214; Entrance B,
Conference Room 110
§ October 30, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at
the Department of Revenue, 1881 Pierce Street, Lakewood, CO 80214; Entrance B,
Conference Room 110 (if necessary)
o The Mandatory
Testing and Random Sampling Working Group
§ November 6, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at Division
of Gaming, 17301 West Colfax Avenue, Suite 135, Golden, CO 80401, Gaming
Commission Room
§ November 7, 2013
from 1PM to 5PM at Division
of Gaming, 17301 West Colfax Avenue, Suite 135, Golden, CO 80401, Gaming
Commission Room (if necessary)
Please note that the second meeting for each working group
will be held if necessary. The Division
will decide at the commencement of each working group’s first meeting, if a
second meeting is necessary. If a second
meeting is held, the Division reserves the right to end the meeting up
completion of the working groups discussion.
Public Participation:
All stakeholder working group meetings will be open to the public. Additionally, a recording and minutes of each
meeting will be made available via the DOR Amendment 64 website: www.colorado.gov/revenue/amendment64. Agendas for the first meeting of each
working group will also be made available to the public at least 24 hours in
advance via the website. Agenda’s for a
second meeting, if necessary, will be noticed as quickly as possible. Additionally, the Division will provide an
opportunity for interested individuals to provide public comment during the first
meeting for each working group.
Public
Hearings
The State License Authority will hold a
formal, public hearing regarding the rules to be adopted through this
rulemaking. Any member of the public may
testify at the hearing and/or submit written comment - all testimony and
written comment will be considered part of the formal public record.
Hearing Schedule: The formal public hearing will be held on November
18th at 9am. The hearings
will be held in the Old Supreme Court Chamber, Colorado State Capital, 200 E. Colfax
Ave., Denver, CO 80203.
