DENVER (AP) — Colorado's tourists would be able to buy as much marijuana as residents, if a bill moving through the state Legislature passes.
The measure repeals Colorado's unique-in-the-nation tiered purchasing system for marijuana. All adults over 21 here are allowed to possess an ounce of marijuana — but retail pot shops can't sell more than a quarter ounce in one day to people without Colorado IDs.
The purchasing limits were established in 2013 to prevent marijuana diversion out of state. Lawmakers figured that visiting tourists wouldn't blaze through a full ounce before heading home. An ounce of pot is sometimes compared to a keg of beer because it's difficult for most users to finish in a few days.
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"We don't want people taking it out of state," said Sen. Cheri Jahn, a Democrat sponsoring a bill that includes the change. "What we found was, that's really not happening."
Current purchasing limits in Colorado:
Although any adult is allowed to possess up to 1 ounce, non-residents of Colorado will be restricted to purchasing no more than ¼ ounce (7 grams) in a single transaction. This law was created to prevent visitors from going from one retail store to another and stockpiling marijuana for export. Obviously this law has some grey areas, such as what is a ‘single transaction’ so most recreational stores err on the side of caution and will only serve you once a day. Please remember these restrictions only apply to retail sales, not possession. Since residents and out-of-state visitors are both allowed to possess up to an ounce (28 grams), you could technically visit up to 4 stores in one day and hit your 1 ounce per person possession limit.
Having said that, you can mix and match what you buy (flower, edibles, concentrate), just as long as the total equals 7 grams or less for a non resident or 28 grams or less for a Colorado resident. For example, ten 100mg edibles equals 1 gram, so you could buy 5 grams of flower and twenty 100mg edibles. Additionally, 1 gram of concentrate is equivalent to 1 gram of bud, so you could buy 2 grams of flower, twenty 100mg edibles and 3 grams of wax or shatter.
An ounce of pot would take me about two weeks to smoke, maybe longer — and that would be working on it...with at least one friend. I more or less avoid smoking it now, preferring vaporizing and having nearly perfected my brownie recipe. THis makes it last a long time.
An ounce of fine marijuana will make four pans of brownies that I would chop into 20 pieces — 80 brownies. At 8 brownies a week (1 a day and 1.5 on Fridays and Saturdays) that is 10 weeks — 2 and a half months of getting more than sufficiently baked, and I am something of a hardcore stoner. Or some would think: I can make the argument I’m a lightweight — if you compare me to people who can smoke an ounce “in a few days”.
Actually, despite the fears, the state doesn’t actually see this happening. The law is more focused on what they say are illegal grow ops that are “diverting” marijuana out of state.
It has to ALWAYS be added here that this is an artifact of cannabis prohibition ongoing in most other states currently, not a product of cannabis re-legalization itself.
In the Netherlands it is available legally (or has been for several decades, that could be changing) but this created issues with people going into the Netherlands daily to buy herb and then return to their countries where the herb is still oppressed.
Oklahoma and Nebraska have tried like hell to intervene in Colorado’s re-legalization process based on these concerns (and being superstitious, bible-thumping, anti-science ninny-states) and have been smacked down:
The Supreme Court ruling was the latest in a string of losses in court for those challenging Colorado's first-of-its-kind cannabis laws:
• A U.S. district judge on Monday dismissed a racketeering suit filed on behalf of Pueblo County horse ranchers who complained that a marijuana cultivation facility marred their view.
• In late-February, a different U.S. District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of sheriffs and attorneys in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas.
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"The takeaway from all this," said attorney Matthew Buck, who represented six defendants in the Pueblo County suit, "is that the federal district court realizes that the voters of Colorado are informed, intelligent and they're not going to let outside interests govern what happens inside the state of Colorado."
Oh … snap! That’s gonna leave a mark.
The new rules would ostensibly allow people to buy more, obviously, however it is reported that there are no cases of a dispensary being cited for selling more than the limit. So, largely, this is a non-issue but there are some anomalies created by it.
Sales = sales tax revenue, so I am unsure what the impetus would be to severely limit sales, OTHER than just to be panty-wadding prohibitionists freaking out about somebody having a little fun. Or making a few bucks. Colorado took in nearly a BILLION dollars in the first year of taxing it.
The current system is said to make accounting far more difficult too. They have to provide detailed accounting of inventory, lest there be too much cannabis sold and too much fun had, I suppose. Thus, a loosening of rigid and “difficult to calculate” rules can help the business, depending upon whom one listens to.
Frankly, all this, to me, is nonsense. People can buy as much beer, wine and liquor as they want. We certainly can’t begin to stand in the way of people buying all the guns they want or buying all the gas-hog vehicles they want and burning gasoline needlessly.
We don’t need cops counting plants and seeds and whipping out their abacus to determine the THC level we should be allowed to have. It’s just so freaking silly.
Cannabis MUST be available like broccoli and bullets and beer: people need to be free to buy as much as they want and do whatever they want with it. (The bullets do have SOME limitations...)
Until then, it’s really not sufficiently re-legalized.