DENVER, CO — Lawmakers took a step toward implementing Colorado’s recreational marijuana law on Tuesday when they set blood-level limits for driving, but a measure to tax retail pot was in limbo a day before the legislative session was set to end.
Along with Washington state, Colorado voters in November approved the use of small amounts of marijuana by adults. The Colorado vote directed state lawmakers to set up a regulatory framework for the sale and taxation of cannabis.
The driving-while-stoned bill sets a 5-nanogram-per-milliliter threshold for tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana. The proposal now heads to Governor John Hickenlooper, who has indicated his support for the measure.
“I think this is an important part” of regulating pot, Hickenlooper, a Democrat, told reporters on Monday.
Washington had the 5-nanogram limit set in its ballot language that voters approved in November.
Colorado legislature had failed in its previous attempts to impose a marijuana limit for driving under the state’s medical pot law, which has been in effect since 2001.
Still pending in the legislature is a measure to tax recreational pot, which under the state constitution requires voter approval to implement. It is uncl. . . . . READ MORE