Colorado's Marijuana Bills of 2022: What Passed, What Failed

Colorado's 2022 legislative session came to an end last week, with eight bills concerning marijuana or hemp making the final cut.

Although just a handful of cannabis bills made it to the desk of Governor Jared Polis this year, the upcoming laws promise to affect Colorado's marijuana and hemp industries, as well as consumers. 

One of 2022's successful marijuana bills fixes a big technical problem in state business licensing, while another creates more regulations and a future task force to tackle the complicated issue of intoxicating hemp products.

Marijuana's big moments at the State Legislature were also about the bills that didn't pass: of the two measures that failed, both would've had a big impact on marijuana users and business owners.

Here are the ten cannabis bills that were proposed throughout the 2022 Colorado legislative sessions, as well as their ultimate fates. (The summaries come from the original language of the bills, which could have been amended.)

House Bill 1037: Retail and Medical Marijuana Same Location

Prime Sponsors: Representative Edie Hooton (D-District 10), Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-District 43), Representative Marc Snyder (D-District 18), Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D-District 17)

Summary: The bill allows a person to operate a licensed medical marijuana business and a licensed retail marijuana business at the same location if permitted by the local licensing authority and the local jurisdiction where the businesses are located, and subject to requirements regarding separation of operations.

Status: Passed House and Senate unamended; signed by Governor.


House Bill 1135: Marijuana Transporter License Transfers

Prime Sponsors: Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-District 43), Representative Marc Snyder (D-District 18), Senator Chris Holbert (R-District 30), Senator Robert Rodriguez (D-District 32)

Summary: Under current law, a marijuana transporter license cannot be transferred with a change of ownership. The bill removes this prohibition.

Status: Passed House and Senate unamended; signed by Governor.


House Bill 1152: Prohibit Employer Adverse Action Marijuana Use

Prime Sponsors: Representative Edie Hooton (D-District 10)

Summary: The bill prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an employee, including an applicant for employment, who engages in the use of:

• Medical marijuana on the premises of the employer during working hours; or
• Retail or medical marijuana off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours.

An employer is permitted to impose restrictions on employee use of medical or retail marijuana under specified circumstances.

Status: Postponed indefinitely by House Business Affairs & Labor Committee.


House Bill 1222: Marijuana Responsible Vendor Designations

Prime Sponsors: Representative Kerry Tripper (D-District 28), Senator Chris Holbert (R-District 30), Senator Robert Rodriguez (D-District 32)

Summary: Under current law, a licensed medical or retail marijuana business may receive a responsible vendor designation if all of its employees successfully complete an approved course. If the business is subject to a licensing action, the designation can be considered a mitigating factor in the licensing action. The bill allows an individual to receive a designation and provides the same licensing mitigation protection to that individual in a licensing action. The bill clarifies how a business receives and maintains a designation and allows a person with a designation to take that designation with them to a new employer.

Status: Passed House and Senate amended; signed by Governor.


House Bill 1341: Marijuana Tax Cash Fund

Prime Sponsors: Representative Leslie Herod (D-District 8), Representative Julie McCluskie (D-District 61), Senator Rachel Zenzinger (D-District 19), Senator Bob Rankin (R-District 8)

Summary: When the marijuana tax cash fund (fund) was initially created, money in the fund was only available to be appropriated for fiscal years following the fiscal year in which it was received by the state. In 2020, the general assembly repealed this restriction, but in 2021, this language was inadvertently added back in by legislation that made an unrelated conforming amendment. The bill restores the correct language, which permits the general assembly to appropriate money from the fund for the same fiscal year in which it is received.

The bill delays transfers from the fund to the public school capital construction assistance fund (BEST fund). Instead of transferring $100 million on June 1, 2022, the bill requires the state treasurer to transfer the following amounts from the fund to the BEST fund:

• $50 million on June 1, 2022;
• $30 million on June 1, 2023; and
• $20 million on June 1, 2024.

The bill also modifies the reserve requirement within the fund. Instead of limiting appropriations to 93% of the beginning balance in the fund, it requires the reserve to be 15% of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year. The bill also specifies that this reserve excludes any money from the fund that is designated to constitute part of the state emergency reserve and clarifies how the reserve works.

Status: Passed House and Senate amended; signed by Governor.


House Bill 1405: Add Faculty to Key Participant Definition for Hemp

Prime Sponsors: Representative Mandy Lindsay (D-District 42), Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D-District 17)

Summary: To engage in industrial hemp cultivation in the state, a person is required to apply to the department of agriculture for a registration. In applying for a registration, the person must include the names and addresses of all key participants in the registered activity. The bill amends the definition of "key participant" to include faculty at an institution of higher education to align with federal law requirements that all individuals authorized to grow hemp under a registration undergo a criminal history record check.

Status: Passed House and Senate unamended; awaiting Governor's signature.


Senate Bill 149: Improve Marijuana Industry Regulation

Prime Sponsors: Senator Kevin Priola (R-District 25), Senator Chris Hansen (D-District 31), Representative Judy Amabile (D-District 13). Representative Mike Lynch (R-District 49)

Summary: The bill requires future contracts for the seed-to-sale tracking system to be awarded pursuant to a transparent, online, and dynamically competitive process. The bill requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding its enforcement activities. The report must include:

• The number of underage compliance checks performed in the previous calendar year;
• The number of underage sale violations in the previous calendar year, including the name of the license violator, how many violations were the result of underage compliance checks or tips, and the sanction or sanctions imposed for each violation; and
• A description of the black or gray market enforcement activities that the state licensing authority engaged in, including the dates of the activities, any violations found, and the result of those violations if known.

The bill also requires the state licensing authority to produce an annual report regarding licensing violations. The report must be organized by month, include the name of the violator and the violation location, and identify the violation and the sanction or sanctions imposed and if the sanction is a license revocation or voluntary surrender of a license and the reason for the revocation or voluntary surrender.

The state licensing authority shall maintain a free searchable database on its website related to compliance check records and minor in possession of marijuana records and an online method for submitting an anonymous tip related to licensing violations.

The bill requires the state licensing authority to conduct at least 2 compliance checks a year at each medical and retail marijuana center.

The bill requires regulatory penalties related to underage sales to be based on the number of violations and any injury or death that occurred as a result of the violation.

The bill requires the state licensing authority to promulgate rules regarding:

• Product recalls, including a requirement for the issuance of a health and safety advisory when a product is recalled that includes the name of the product, the timing of when the consumer would receive the advisory, the places where the product was sold, the time period when the product was for sale, the requested actions that the state licensing authority may direct to a seller, cultivator, or manufacturer, and any other additional information that would assist the public; and
• Timelines and deadlines for notifying a licensee of an alleged violation; a licensee's response to an alleged violation; and a licensee's compliance with any sanction imposed, which must require, in the case of an uncontested violation, that the licensee has 90 days to comply with the sanction.

The bill directs that when the state licensing authority convenes a work group, task force, or other group to assist in developing rules or policies that involve public health and consumer safety, the state licensing authority shall make every reasonable attempt to have broad representation from non-marijuana industry parties on the work group, task force, or other group. The bill requires the state licensing authority to provide any written materials received from a member of the group or task force to all members of the group or task force within 7 days after receipt of the material; except that any proprietary information must be redacted from the material.

The bill requires that when the state licensing authority reports a voluntary surrender of a license that is the result of a settlement or agreement with the licensing authority, the report shall designate the action as "voluntary surrender - licensing violation settlement."

Status: Postponed indefinitely by Senate Health & Human Services Committee.


Senate Bill 155: Expand Medical Marijuana Research Grant Programs

Prime Sponsors: Senator Don Coram (R-District 6)

Summary: The bill expands the medical marijuana research grant program by:

• Providing grant funding for research intended to ascertain the safety of medical marijuana products; and
• Encouraging the state board of health to prioritize grants to research the safety of medical marijuana products and the safety of administering medical marijuana for post traumatic stress disorder.

The bill requires the state treasurer to transfer $3 million from the general fund to the health research subaccount in the medical marijuana cash fund for the purpose of providing research grants and administering the grant program.

Status: Passed Senate and House amended; awaiting Governor's signature.

Senate Bill 178: Licensees Ability to Change Marijuana Designation

Prime Sponsors: Senator Julie Gonzalez (D-District 34), Representative Alex Valdez (D-District 5), Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-District 43)

Summary: The bill allows a medical marijuana cultivation facility licensee to transfer medical marijuana to a retail marijuana cultivation facility licensee and the retail marijuana cultivation facility licensee to receive the marijuana and change the designation of the marijuana from medical to retail. The bill clarifies that the retail marijuana cultivation facility licensee is required to pay any retail marijuana excise tax.

Status: Passed House and Senate amended; awaiting Governor's signature.


Senate Bill 205: Intoxicating Hemp and Tetrahydrocannabinol Products

Prime Sponsors: Senator Stephen Fenberg (D-District 18), Senator Chris Holbert (R-District 30), Representative Alex Valdez (D-District 5), Representative Kevin Van Winkle (R-District 43)

Summary: Section 1 of the bill authorizes the department of public health and environment to prohibit the chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation of intoxicating tetrahydrocannabinol isomers that originate from industrial hemp or may be synthetically derived. Section 2 creates a task force to study intoxicating hemp products and make legislative and rule recommendations. The task force will submit a report to the general assembly, by January 1, 2023. The task force consists of 20 members including representatives of state government, experts in marijuana and industrial hemp regulation, persons licensed in the marijuana and medical marijuana fields, persons working with industrial hemp, testing laboratories, and a representative of a county or district public health agency. Section 3 declares it a deceptive trade practice to violate provisions that apply to hemp, industrial hemp, industrial hemp products, intoxicating hemp, adult use cannabis products, the plant cannabis sp., or anything derived from or produced from the plant cannabis sp. Section 4 appropriates $587,347 to the department of law to implement the bill.

Status: Passed House and Senate amended; awaiting Governor's signature.