Oregon recently launched home delivery of recreational marijuana products — could Colorado follow suit? Pictured: Michael "Kidd" Kenworthy from Winterlife Delivery Seattle, selects a package of pot for a customer who identified herself as "Tracy," while conducting a transaction in Kenworthy's car on June 5, 2014, outside Tracy's home in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren, The Associated Press)

Weed delivered to your front door could be reality under new Colorado bill

Pizza, prescriptions, Prime … pot?

A bill introduced this week in the Colorado Senate would open the door for home-delivered recreational and medical marijuana in the state.

Senate Bill 192 would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries and recreational pot shops to apply for a license to deliver marijuana products to the private residences of Colorado adults or qualifying medical marijuana patients. The legislation is modeled after Oregon’s newly launched marijuana home delivery regulations, said Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, and Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora.

“This hopefully solves some of the problems as it relates to people concerned about marijuana DUIs or sick patients who don’t have access to dispensaries,” Singer told The Cannabist in a phone interview Friday.

Colorado’s bill goes a step further to also try to put in place a Plan B should there be a major change in federal enforcement policy — or local or state, for that matter.

SB 192’s language calls for single-instance transfers of product from a retail marijuana store to a medical dispensary — effectively creating a “safety valve” for the state’s operations, Singer said.

For example, if a municipality were to ban recreational marijuana or federal crackdown occured, affected businesses would be allowed to transfer their inventory to a medical dispensary.

“This ensures that we have safe passage … and it doesn’t escape out the back door,” he said.

The meat of SB 192, however, is dedicated to delivery regulations.

Among the notable provisions:

  • Medical marijuana dispensaries and retail marijuana shops can apply for a delivery “endorsement” from the state, which would allow an employee or approved contractor to deliver flower, concentrate and infused products to adults over the age of 21 and parents and guardians of a medical marijuana card holder.
  • A local jurisdiction could not prohibit the delivery of medical or recreational marijuana by a licensed entity
  • The daily purchase limits apply (one ounce recreational cannabis flower or equivalent products; two ounces medical)
  • Licensed delivery operations need to meet specific training procedures, including age verification, record-keeping, security, vehicle requirements, and limits on the amount of product that could be carried in a vehicle
  • Inventory tracking, transportation, packaging and labeling requirements apply
  • Endorsements for medical marijuana begin Jan. 2, 2018, and the endorsements for retail marijuana begin Jan. 2, 2019

The bill is scheduled for a hearing March 1 with the Senate Business, Labor, & Technology committee.

In Oregon, home delivery is still a fresh concept, having launched just this month.

“It’s super exciting,” Spencer Krutzler, manager of La Cannaisseur in Linnton, told KGW.com. “This is like, you’re going to call the pizza guy, then you’re going to call us. We’re going to have a good time.”

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission oversees the regulations for recreational cannabis, including how the deliveries work.

Outside of residential homes, there are limits on where an Oregon recreational customer can have their cannabis delivered: Public spaces such as parks or campgrounds are out; also excluded are dormitories, motels, bed & breakfasts or other similar commercial businesses.

Delivery workers must verify that the person receiving the order is the same person who placed the order; is age 21 or older and not visibly intoxicated; and the person must sign for the order.

Deliveries are closely tracked. Route manifests are required for the state’s Cannabis Tracking System and must include the driver’s inventory of products and their retail amount, the number of locations and the route between destinations. No more than $3,000 worth of cannabis products may be sent out on a delivery route, and everything must be kept in a lock box securely affixed inside the vehicle.

To read the text of Colorado SB 192 as introduced, click here.