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A New Year Means New Rules for Colorado Marijuana Sales Limits

With an amazingly successful 2015, Colorado remains a leader in the recreational marijuana industry. And with that success and leadership comes “tweaking” a few regulations, of course.

In 2016, watch out for some big “tweaks” affecting edible retail marijuana products in Colorado. Changes were supposed to take effect on January 1, 2016, but due to Bulletin 15-12, changes will not take effect until later in the year. Here’s what you need to know:

As of October 1, 2016, limits on the amount of edibles and concentrates that you can buy in a single sales transaction will be redefined.

Don’t worry, the current limits on flower (bud) purchases will remain unchanged. But the current sales limits on edibles and concentrates will change drastically in 2016, as you can see in the tables below:
FLOWER LIMITS
(per single sales transaction)
MARIJUANA FLOWER SALES LIMITS
(Unchanged)
Colorado Residents
28g (1 ounce)
Non-Colorado Residents
7g (1/4 ounce)

 

CONCENTRATES LIMITS
(per single sales transaction)
CURRENT SALES LIMITS
NEW SALES LIMITS
(As of October 1, 2016)
Colorado Residents
28g
8g
Non-Colorado Residents
7g
2g

 

EDIBLES LIMITS
(per single sales transaction)
CURRENT SALES LIMITS
NEW SALES LIMITS
(As of October 1, 2016)
Colorado Residents
28,000mg THC
(2800 single servings*)
800mg THC
(80 single servings*)
Non-Colorado Residents
7,000mg THC
(700 single servings*)
200mg THC
(20 single servings*)
* The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division defines a “single serving edible” as a marijuana product unit for sale to consumers containing no more than 10mg of active THC.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These changes only impact retail sales, not possession.
Before these new regulations take effect, customers can mix and match (flower, edibles, concentrate), as long as the total equals 7 grams or less for a non-resident or 28 grams or less for a Colorado resident. Well, as of October 1, 2016, it won’t be so simple. Basically, the new calculation will be this:
  • 1oz of Retail Marijuana Flower = 8g of Retail Marijuana Concentrate
  • 1oz of Retail Marijuana Flower = 800mg of Retail Marijuana Edible Products
  • ¼ oz of Retail Marijuana Flower = 2g of Retail Marijuana Concentrate
  • ¼ oz of Retail Marijuana Flower = 200mg of Retail Marijuana Edible Products
Example: As of October 1, 2016, if a non-Colorado resident customer wants to buy one 100mg chocolate bar, they will only be able to purchase 1 gram of concentrate OR 3.5 grams of flower in the same transaction.
While the marijuana industry is very progressive in the state of Colorado, selling combinations of marijuana products under these new regulations might be a little tricky at first for both the customers and the budtenders – so make sure to be patient!
Even more major changes are coming for the edibles market later in 2016, so we will do our best to keep you up to date as new regulations take effect. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

The full regulations can be found on page 64-65 of the PDF in this link: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/1%20CCR%20212-2_Retail.pdf
The 2016 deadline extension bulletin can be found at https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/15-12_IB-Equivalencies%26US.pdf