Medical marijuana license application process begins tomorrow: How does it work?

In March, the Department of Revenue’s Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division published its final rules. Now, one important requirement is about to be made flesh. Beginning tomorrow, employees can begin applying for licenses to work at MMJ centers and other businesses (see the forms below). And while some advocates see the process as onerous, attorney Warren Edson believes it’s not as bad as it could have been.

Edson points to the application fees, which can be paid by cash or check (no credit cards) beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Medical Marijuana Office, 6200 Dahlia Street in Commerce City. Individuals deemed support employees (a salaried worker who doesn’t receive a percentage of gross or net profits) must pay $75, while key employees (managers, supervisors or lead staffers) must fork over $250. And while that’s a considerable amount of coin, it’s actually better or equal to equivalent fees for casino workers. The key license fee in that industry is also $250, but the support employee charge is $100 — meaning, says Edson, that “it’s cheaper for weed.”

Granted, there are some intrusive aspects to the forms. Key employees are asked to provide two years of tax returns, Edson notes, while support employees “need to sign a waiver that says MMED can get them from the IRS.”

For providing this and other information, Edson continues, employees will receive “the magic white badge they’re going to need to get into the limited access room — and it needs to be prominently displayed.” And applicants, who must pass muster by July 1, when regs go into effect, shouldn’t have to wait for weeks to receive this accoutrement: “It’s going to be boring and ugly and a pain in the ass — but I’m told that if you get in line Thursday and bring everything they tell you to bring, you’ll leave there in one to four hours with one of these pretty badges.”

See the key and support license applications below.

Colorado Medical Marijuana Key Employee Form

Colorado Medical Marijuana Support Employee Form

More from our Marijuana archive: “Medical marijuana: Dr. Toribio Robert Mestas cleared of charges after sting operation.”