Several states voted to legalize marijuana this past Election Day but the pot business still has a griperegulations.
Though decriminalized on some level in 19 states and the District of Columbia (it remains illegal under federal law), marijuana is still subject to regulations that strike some in the industry as micromanagement.
One company that tracks regulations is Cannabiz Media, which publishes the Marijuana Licensing Reference Guide. It recently posted a list of what it describes as the 10 weirdest marijuana laws. For example, in Nevada and Oregon, signage for businesses that sell pot is regulated down to the font size and even font style. Connecticut bans the uses of illuminated signs while Washington, DC, makes it a point to outlaw the sale of pot at gasoline stations or auto repair shops.
Ed Keating, the person who compiled the list, sees such regulations as more than just a nuisance, particularly for medical marijuana dispensaries.
Its really hard to comply with these regulations because they are so particular and, in some cases, they just dont seem to make a lot of sense, he said. If youre a business trying to get medicine to your patients some of these regulations are very expensive to comply with.
However, Keating isnt entirely against regulations and argues that some control would be in the industrys best interests.
In a lot of states now, theyre starting to put what an appropriate dosage or amount is to consume, he said, noting that Maureen Dowds 2014 New York Times piece on her overdose of marijuana-infused chocolates showed the dangers of no labeling. That makes a lot of sense for safety.
The other area that has seen a lot of regulatory scrutiny is testing because they want to make sure that if people are consuming this as medicineor even recreationallytheyre given a safe product, he continued. Where it gets dangerous is when people concentrate that product into a liquid, an oil. Youre raising the concentration of everything. So if there are bad chemicals in there, they get much more concentrated and it could be a danger to people. So I think well be seeing even more regulations there.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: There Are Some Oddball Marijuana Laws On The Books
Author: Lawrence Lewitinn
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