by Delaney Letts
Although marijuana has been legal in the state of Colorado since 2012, online ads and commercials are being more strictly regulated. Currently, the state requires a marijuana license for selling the substance in stores and considers it a crime to sell without a license.
However, the state government never required a license for online promotions. Now, thanks to new legislation, people will no longer have the ability to advertise marijuana online without a license.
According to Colorado General Assembly, “The bill makes it a level 2 drug misdemeanor for a person not licensed to sell medical or retail marijuana or to advertise for the sale of marijuana or marijuana concentrate.”
According to State Sen. Irene Aguilar of Denver, authorities found, on an average day in Denver, more than 690 ads were discovered through Craigslist. Authorities claim that the majority of these ads were leading to sales outside of the regulated market.
This new advertising bill is still waiting for one more formal vote required from the Senate before moving to the House.
However, after what President Donald Trump stated in his inaugural address, “drugs have stolen too many lives,” many Americans will be awaiting changes regarding drugs throughout the nation. As for Colorado, the debate remains whether or not this new bill will be effective or not.
Kush Gardens, a recreational marijuana dispensary located in De Beque located 30 minutes away from the Grand Junction area, does not usually partake in online advertising. But they do have an official website, however, to access their page, they require each customer to enter their birthday to prove they are 21 years of age or older.
“We don’t typically do online business, although we do have social media accounts like Facebook that people can follow, but for the most part we try to avoid the majority of advertising,” Kush Gardens employee Tylor McGowan said. “Because of the versatility of this industry, we only advertise to certain demographics, and it limits the type of advertising we can do.”
Most employees at Kush Garden were unaware of this new Colorado marijuana bill. However, McGowan said, “Honestly, one major goal of this industry is to eliminate the black market, which will always be there, but hopefully this law enforcement will take that more into consideration. So, I have hopes that most people will follow through with this new law, and that the new bill will work, but you never know.”
The effectiveness of this bill has yet to be determined. Regardless, it will now be illegal to advertise marijuana or marijuana concentrate online without an official license to sell or retail the drug.
