Denver Council Set to Address Retail Cannabis Regulations

The Denver City Council will meet in a special committee this afternoon to determine regulations on the road toward retail cannabis shops. The council will consider 39 issues including zoning and proposed hours of operation.

The council is also expected to impose a two year window that will only allow existing medical marijuana dispensaries to convert into retail operations until the issue is re-addressed in January 2016.

The proposals recommended by the council will need formal approval by September 23 in order to fulfill the deadlines set by Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana for those over 21 in the state in a November 2012 vote.

While Colorado voters will be asked to approve a statewide sales and excise tax on retail marijuana sales this November, Denver city officials have also taken the first steps toward placing a 5 percent city tax on retail marijuana to the city’s voters in November. The city tax would be on top the proposed combined 25 percent tax on cannabis at the state level.

Recreational sales of cannabis are set to begin in Colorado in January 2014.