| Graphic: Cannabis N.I. |
The Colorado House of Representatives has approved and sent to the state Senate a bill that would allow the state to license medical marijuana dispensaries, growers and people who make medical cannabis-infused edibles.
Under the bill, HB 1284, owners of medical marijuana dispensaries would be required to undergo criminal background checks. Anyone with a drug felony would be barred from owning a pot shop.
The bill passed 39-23 with bipartisan support, reports the Vail Daily.
Many medical marijuana activists are unhappy with the legislation.
“These bills will create a government-sponsored monopoly of a few mega-Walmart dispensaries,” said Lauri Kriho, director of Cannabis Therapy Institute (CTI).
“Instead of following the will of the voters to allow caregivers to take care of their patients, these laws will force out many truly compassionate caregivers who serve only a small number of people, leaving the industry open only to well-funded dispensaries focused on profit, not patients,” Kriho said. “And it will be a big profit, once 95 percent of their competition has been eliminated.”