No More Residency Requirements for MED Badges

Dear Friends,

In the litany of changes that have hit our lives over the last three months, we at McAllister Garfield want to highlight a small but significant positive change coming to the marijuana industry in Colorado. 

On March 24th, 2020, Governor Polis signed into law House Bill 20-1080.  Under current law, all managers and employees of a marijuana business with day-to-day operational control must be Colorado residents when they apply for a MED badge.  This bill amended the marijuana provisions in the Colorado Revised Statues to repeal the residency requirement for MED badges.  This creates an opportunity for talent acquisition and potential funding from outside Colorado, which could prove a game changer for the Colorado cannabis industry. 

House Bill 20-1080 is set to go into effect 90 days after final adjournment of the general assembly, which should have been August 5, 2020 if the general assembly was adjourned on its planned date of May 6, 2020.  However, due to COVID-19 closures, the general assembly was recessed from March 14, 2020 until May 26, 2020.  Therefore, it is unclear when the general assembly final adjournment will be, and the time table for the residency requirement to be repealed is currently unknown.  However, the removal of the residency requirement is coming, and now is the time to position your business for the change. 

Please let us know if you have any questions about how the removal of the residency requirement will affect your business.

Best,                                                                                                               
Dan Kramer