MMJ business hurt by loopholes in Amendment 64

The owner of a local medical marijuana center said loopholes in Amendment 64 are hurting business at his and others’ dispensaries.

Randy, from Kind Therapeutic Alternative Medicine said he has had to work hard in the past three to four years to build up his medical marijuana center. He has met building codes, been approved for licenses, and paid necessary fees.

“We have to have in place all the things that’s required of us,” he said “Everything that they ask us to do, we have to do, and we have to do it within the boundaries of the law.”

But Amendment 64 has changed the business landscape.

“We’re having to compete with people that don’t have to do anything near what we have to do,” Randy said.

Websites offering marijuana in exchange for a delivery fee and clubs that let customers smoke marijuana inside in exchange for a donation have sprung since Amendment 64 passed. An attorney told KRDO NEWSCHANNEL13 things like these are legally questionable, and it would be up to a judge or jury to decide.

Randy said they’re pushing what they can do, taking advantage of the gray areas in Amendment 64. He hopes law enforcement steps up and that regulations keep things fair. In the meantime, he’s giving customers reason to continue shopping at his legal dispensary.

“They know they’re getting a quality product,” he said. “And they’re doing it under and within the boundaries of the laws, and that there’s no way that they can ever be prosecuted for that.”

In response, Mason Tvert, who campaigned for Amendment 64 sent KRDO NEWSCHANNEL13 the following statement:

“The intent of Amendment 64 was to end the criminalization of adults who choose to use marijuana responsibility, and to establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol. It is illegal to provide marijuana to people for remuneration, just as it would be illegal to brew beer in your home and begin selling it without being properly licensed. Our focus should be on establishing the system approved by the voters so that we can eliminate the underground market for marijuana sales and that is just what the legislature will be doing in the coming months. Until then, people should be aware that they face severe criminal penalties for receiving money in exchange for providing marijuana to anyone.”