New Colorado laws to go in effect in 2018

With a new year comes new laws that will go into effect in January.

One a lot of Coloradans talked about in 2017: A pay bump for minimum wage earners.

The state’s plan raises the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020. It begins with a rate increase to $10.20 on January 1.

The minimum wage for tipped employees will also rise to $7.18 an hour.

Colorado also set new criminal guidelines for teen sexting.

The law specifies charge requirements for young people accused of distributing or possessing nude pictures. This debate came about after several schools had a rash of teen sexting incidents.

Also starting in 2018, you’ll be limited to growing just 12 marijuana plants unless local laws provide an exemption.

Patients with red cards can get a medical exemption for 24 plants if it’s okay with city and county leaders.