Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed a bill that reduces the amount of concentrates medical cannabis patients older than 21 can buy in one day to 8 grams, sets up a database to ensure patients aren’t exceeding those limits by making purchases at different dispensaries, and imposing new rules on patients under 21-years-old, the Denver Post reports.
The Post described the new rules as the “most sweeping piece of regulatory legislation for the marijuana industry since Colorado first legalized recreational use in 2012.”
Previously, the state’s medical cannabis patients could purchase up to 40 grams of concentrates per day, which state Attorney General Phil Weiser previously claimed “enabled teen access to high potency” cannabis products.
The new rules for medical cannabis patients under 21 require a diagnosis of a “debilitating or disabling medical condition” by two physicians from different medical practices, and in-person follow up appointments every six months unless the patient is homebound. Patients under 21 are restricted to purchasing 2 grams of cannabis concentrates per day under the new law.
The measure also requires the Colorado School of Public Health to study the effects of high potency cannabis products on young adults and requiring packaging on both medical and retail concentrates to include a warning regarding the possible risks of overconsumption.
The bill’s sponsor, Democratic House Speaker Alec Garnett has said the new rules were needed as concentrates are “being pedaled through a black market across high school campuses in Colorado.”
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