Caregivers and Medical Marijuana Centers, as dispensaries are referred to under the 2011 state law, should pay extreme attention to following every regulation set by the state. Having an marijuana law specialist on retainer could save not only thousands of dollars in legal fees down the road, but could save people involved in this legal trade their freedom.

Anyone supplying medical marijuana to patients in Colorado may be exempt from the state law, but they can more easily be prosecuted under federal law, which does not recognize our state’s right to make marijuana legal for medicinal purposes. Caregivers or operators of Medical Marijuana Centers who fall just outside of the regulations in our state could easily fall into deep trouble with federal prosecutors as was evidenced by a DEA arrest of a Denver-area grower just a couple years back.

Under the new regulations signed into law by the state in 2011, Caregivers are now restricted to five patients, and they must provide a service other than providing marijuana. Caregivers are limited in what they can charge for marijuana they have grown, and will ultimately have to register with the Colorado Health Department.
Don’t Lose your business investment in medical marijuana to inventory miscalculations

Medical Marijuana Centers will soon need to account for growing 70 percent of prescribed medication, while still conforming to the two-ounce rule for each patient who has chosen that establishment as a “primary center.” It’s still a non-exclusive operation, meaning the medical marijuana center can still deal with any patient, and any patient can deal with any medical marijuana center. However, the center is still confined to the two ounces for each patient designating it as primary.

This may give law enforcement agencies the latitude to crack down on grower and centers that also supply to the black market trade in marijuana, but legal operators should also be concerned. Please secure the advice of an attorney who is up-to-date not only with the law, but how the law is being adjudicated in local courts. Call Rob Grossman for a free consultation today at 303-747-7400 .