A controversial measure proposing fewer medical marijuana restrictions for doctors and patients met a hard stop early in the session, with sponsors pulling the bill without public testimony. There were some wins for marijuana proponents later on, however, including successful proposals to protect online dispensary sales (not just pre-orders) and off-hour cannabis use by licensed workers.
Here are six last-minute developments:
Mushroom Legalization Implementation
Introduced with three weeks left in the 2023 legislative session and now passed by both houses, Senate Bill 23-290 would implement and regulate Proposition 122, the landmark psychedelics ballot initiative passed by Colorado voters last November. This proposal creates guardrails for unlicensed psychedelic facilitators, restrictions for personal mushroom and natural-medicine cultivation, and criminal penalties for the unlicensed sale or distribution of psychedelics. Under the measure, the state Department of Revenue, already responsible for overseeing Colorado's liquor, marijuana and gaming industries, is charged with regulating licensed psychedelic manufacturing, distribution, testing and other business activities.While local governments have the right to enact time, place and manner regulations on psychedelic facilitation centers and businesses, neither Prop 122 nor SB 290 give local governments the power to ban psychedelic centers, despite calls to roll back those protections from coalitions representing counties and municipalities. Meanwhile, psychedelic advocates believe the bill creates too many restrictions on unlicensed psychedelic facilitation and communal use, pointing to specific language banning the public consumption of psychedelics and paying unlicensed facilitators more than expenses, both of which can be components of religious or ceremonial use by Indigenous cultures.
More bills addressing Prop 122 and the decriminalization and legalization of psychedelics are expected to come in 2024, and the state Department of Regulatory Agencies, which is currently overseeing a Natural Medicine Advisory Board, will create additional rules surrounding legal psychedelic use. As the first bill to address medical psilocybin and three other newly decriminalized psychedelics in Colorado, however, SB 290 is an important first step for the state's trip into psychedelics. The bill is expected to be signed by Governor Jared Polis.
Online Dispensary Sales
Colorado dispensaries can accept pre-orders, but customers are still required to pay for those orders in person — and most of those transactions must be done in cash, because the majority of banks won't provide marijuana businesses with credit and debit sales systems for fear of violating federal prohibitions. (Pot shops were temporarily allowed to accept online payment during the COVID-19 pandemic, but those executive orders expired in 2021.)Introduced by state Representative William Lindstedt, House Bill 23-1279 would allow dispensaries and marijuana delivery services to accept online payments through pre-orders. Customers would still have to enter the store and show their IDs, or provide identification to a delivery driver, in order to pick up a purchase. After amendments to the bill requiring warning labels or announcements similar to those issued at dispensaries, including statements about the health risks of consuming marijuana while pregnant, as well as the potential dangers that extracted THC products pose to mental health, the measure passed both Houses. It is currently waiting on Polis's signature.
Worker Protection
Last July, Governor Polis issued an executive order that state agencies regulating professional licenses will observe a person's right to legal marijuana activities. In the order, the governor mandated that the Department of Regulatory Agencies and the Department of Revenue ensure such protections, directing state agencies not to cooperate with out-of-state investigations "related to disciplinary action against a professional license, certification, or credential for marijuana-related actions" that are legal in Colorado.Senate Bill 23-265, a successful measure from Senator Kevin Van Winkle, would expand those workforce protections and cement them into state law, and further protect new Coloradans who face employment or licensee discipline for marijuana activities in their previous states. The bill will impact licenses for hundreds of professions, including those in health care, trade practices, cosmetology, engineering, combat sports, real estate and much more. This bill, too, is awaiting Polis's signature.
Record-Sealing Opportunities
Passed late in the session despite an early introduction, House Bill 23-1214 streamlines the clemency and pardoning processes for prisoners. A provision in the bill also permits the governor to grant pardons to people who were convicted in Colorado of possessing up to two ounces of marijuana, which is the state's current legal limit for pot possession. Although Polis pardoned 1,351 such charges in 2021, this bill would open the pardon possibility to defendants who never complied with the state's commutation process. Introduced by state Representative Elisabeth Epps, the bill has passed both the House and Senate, and currently awaits the governor's signature.Hemp-Derived Product Restrictions
This ironic development resulting from hemp's federal legalization has drawn a battle line between the marijuana and hemp industries. A variety of hemp plants have been selectively bred to produce low amounts of THC and high amounts of CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid with medical benefits. However, CBD can be modified into different isomers of THC, including forms that aren't explicitly banned by the federal government. That loophole led to "newer" forms of THC like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC that are technically derived from hemp and are popular on the internet in their own right. Some hemp and CBD companies are even bolder, selling Delta-9 THC edibles and capsules under the argument that they are less than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.Senate Bill 23-271, introduced by Senator Kevin Van Winkle, will put more regulations in place for intoxicating hemp products, including stricter labeling and testing requirements for hemp-derived products made in Colorado as well as regulations for hemp products that have more than 1.75 milligrams of THC per serving, with an exemption for tinctures. Factions of the industrial hemp industry and medical marijuana patients who depend on low-THC products opposed the bill, arguing that it put undue restrictions on important products that aren't used for intoxication. The legislature ended up passing a heavily amended version of the bill, however, and it is expected to receive Polis's approval.
No Social Equity Changes
New marijuana business owners and delivery businesses hoped that lawmakers would adopt a bill updating the state's marijuana social equity program, but the measure had trouble getting off the ground, and now proponents feel they were misled by a last-minute sponsor. Introduced on January 9, the very first day of the 2023 legislative session, state Representative Naquetta Ricks's House Bill 23-1020 would have created preferential marijuana delivery opportunities and changes to Colorado's social equity licensing requirements.The measure was opposed by the majority of the recreational marijuana industry, which led to drawn-out and contentious discussion at the Capitol. After a last-minute push to get the bill through, including the addition of Senator Rhonda Fields as a prime sponsor, HB 1020 was shelved in the Senate Appropriations Committee. According to marijuana social equity advocate and business owner Sarah Woodson, the effort "will be back next January."
