News » Colorado Dept of Revenue Releases New MMJ Regs





The Colorado Department of Revenue, which oversees medical marijuana in the state, has released a new set of rules for medical cannabis centers (dispensaries). The 77 pages of rules target several items seen as problems in the current MMJ oversight for Colorado, including security and law enforcement concerns.

The new rules, which can be seen in their entirety here (“proposed rules” link), attempt to cover the security concerns police have with dispensaries (which have been targeted for robbery and break-ins in the past) and with patient privacy, since law enforcement has also asked for greater access to patient records.

Some medical marijuana advocates are not happy with the new rules, which they believe do not go far enough to protect patient privacy. The Cannabis Therapy Institute, a Boulder-based advocacy, training and activist group, stated in a release that the rules “fall far short of what is necessary to ensure patient confidentiality.”

Specifically, the new rules require dispensaries to hand over surveillance recordings to law enforcement authorities upon an administrative “request demonstrating that the information sought is relevant and material to a legitimate regulatory or law enforcement inquiry.” The word “legitimate” is never defined (see page 43).

This and other potential loopholes in the new rules could mean lawsuits and enforcement abuse, advocates warn.

[source Cannabis Therapy Institute]

Tags: Colorado, department of revenue, medical, mmed, MMJ