As COVID continues to spread across the nation, Colorado lawmakers try to make Colorado weed delivery legal statewide. With dispensaries continuing to thrive, the spread of the virus becomes a bigger problem with each customer helped at the facilities. With the question of how do we lessen social contact in the air, the answer seems pretty clear, allowing weed delivery in the state of Colorado. But what exactly is the status of Colorado weed delivery?
In late 2019, a bill was passed allowing for marijuana delivery, starting with medical marijuana delivery. This bill began a two-year process to provide dispensaries with proper licensing that will allow them to make weed deliveries to medical customers and to later follow with recreational customers. Gov. Jared Polis described marijuana delivery in Colorado as a tactic to reduce impaired driving. The process began on January 2nd, 2020.
Each state regulates the marijuana delivery services closely and collects taxes accordingly.
California, Oregon, Maine, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Michigan all currently allow for the delivery of marijuana to recreational customers.
Every state will tackle the delivery service situation differently with some form of licensing being required to do so.
California is the forerunner for acquiring the correct licensing, with hundreds of dispensaries currently licensed to deliver cannabis legally. For marijuana businesses to acquire legal cannabis delivery licenses, they must meet strict state safety and quality standards to move forward. As a consumer, you can rest assured that you will receive quality and safe products.
But where is weed delivery in Colorado?
According to the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, delivery of recreational weed in Colorado is absolutely not legal (yet).
Right now, Colorado weed delivery is limited to only medical marijuana dispensaries delivering to medical patients. Current recreational delivery services offered are illegal and are most likely trying to scam you. Unregulated weed deliveries have many physical risks involved with purchasing such as potential robberies involved with criminals making fraudulent delivery services and quality of the product not being as good as dispensary-grade products.
Also, not knowing where the product was grown, dried out correctly, etc. adds to the dangerousness of buying this way. Many Colorado cities simply haven’t brought marijuana delivery into a local law spotlight. Currently, the only two dispensaries offering legally permitted marijuana delivery are Native Roots and Helping Hands but the services are for medical patients only.
The real reason it seems that marijuana delivery is not legal yet in Colorado is simply that there are no laws for marijuana delivery. Lawmakers are currently working out the intricate details for the law. Marijuana laws are so new to Colorado that every regulatory decision sets a precedent for other states following marijuana legalization. With this, Colorado has been incredibly slow in the state’s approach to extending new allowances in the cannabis field. With agencies such as Cannabis against COVID, people are working to spread marijuana to people all around while drastically reducing the spread of coronavirus.
The initial goal as described by the campaign was to petition the State of Colorado to legalize home deliveries for recreational marijuana and add a temporary $20 surcharge to each delivery, which would go directly to COVID relief agencies. The group also pointed to the economic hardships imposed by the pandemic, noting that cannabis sales in Colorado suffered a significant dip in sales due to the lockdown measures. COVID-19 has done a lot to turn the spotlight on how important it is to make cannabis items accessible to those who are homebound, many of which need cannabis for all sorts of medical reasons.
As of right now, recreational marijuana delivery in Colorado is slated to debut in 2021.
This also depends on each Colorado county opting into the law. Being the case, there will be a slow political process in the state deciding whether or not marijuana delivery is appropriate for each locality. With COVID continuing to be present, this alone might be enough of a reason for the Colorado legislature to stop dragging their feet when considering the delivery laws. Though not intended to be a response to the COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019, Colorado cannabis delivery services may well be helping to stop the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus.
The Aurora City Council is advancing a proposal to legalize cannabis delivery for individuals who are of legal cannabis consumption age. On December 7, 2020, the Aurora City Council voted 8-2 to allow for licensed marijuana retailers to deliver recreational marijuana in Aurora. Under the proposal, weed delivery would be allowed from 8 am to 8 pm.
No more than one ounce of marijuana can be delivered to a customer in one day. The proposal will see a final vote later this month.
If passed, Aurora would be one of the first Colorado cities to permit weed delivery.
Should the Aurora city council pass the proposal later this month, marijuana delivery could begin in the community as early as January 2021.
The Colorado weed delivery bill gives discretion to local governments in the state to decide whether or not to opt into marijuana delivery. The realities imposed by the coronavirus pandemic may increase pressure on more Colorado cities to hop on board the bill.
As of right now, marijuana delivery services are tentatively scheduled for some time in 2021.
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