Colorado House Bill 1284 Latest Changes
The Colorado Medical Marijuana Legislation House Bill 1284 was improved in the latest revision by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill is not yet finalized, but the changes are promising.Among the changes to Colorado Medical Marijuan House Bill 1284:
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The ability of local governments to ban dispensaries has been removed.
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Onsite consumption of Marijuana-infused products is allowed.
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The amount of medical marijuana a dispensary must grow was lowered.
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The limit on the total number of patients a dispensary can have was removed.
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The disqualification of owners with past criminal convictions was softened.
The Colorado Municipal League has stated they will fight for the ability to ban dispensaries by local governments. I think the Centennial case has somewhat shown this to be unconstitutional so I doubt they will have much luck. Republican Representative Tom Massey, one of the bills sponsors also strongly disagreed with removing the local dispensary bans, which is not too surprising.
The strong lobbying campaign by supporters of Colorado Medical Marijuana and Amendment 20 appears to have paid off. We have seen a big improvement in just the last few months. Let's hope the final bill retains these positive enhancements.