Implementation of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado: A Progress Report

• In Event: Marijuana Legalization: Reports from the Frontlines

Abstract

In January 2014, Colorado became the first jurisdiction in the world to implement a system for the regulation and taxation of marijuana for adult users. A number of decisions by scores of policy makers went into taking a relatively bare-bones voter initiative and making it a comprehensive set of laws and regulations governing marijuana from seed to sale, from zoning to consumer safety, from advertising to labeling and testing. As the months pass, we are learning what went right and what went wrong in this process and what other states can learn from Colorado’s experience.

Author

• Sam Kamin, Denver University