CO Code § 44-10-104 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 44 - Revenue - Regulation of Activities|Article 10 - Regulated Marijuana|Part 1 - Colorado Marijuana Code|§ 44-10-104. Applicability - Medical Marijuana - Retail Marijuana

     A county, city and county, or municipality may adopt and enforce a resolution or ordinance licensing, regulating, or prohibiting the cultivation or sale of medical marijuana. In a county, city and county, or municipality where such an ordinance or resolution has been adopted, a person who is not registered as a patient or primary caregiver pursuant to section 25-1.5-106 and who is cultivating or selling medical marijuana is not entitled to an affirmative defense to a criminal prosecution as provided for in section 14 of article XVIII of the state constitution unless the person is in compliance with the applicable county or municipal law.    The operation of this article 10 as it relates to medical marijuana shall be statewide unless a municipality, county, city, or city and county, by either a majority of the registered electors of the municipality, county, city, or city and county voting at a regular election or special election called in accordance with the “Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965”, article 10 of title 31, or the “Uniform Election Code of 1992”, articles 1 to 13 of title 1, as applicable, or a majority of the members of the governing board for the municipality, county, city, or city and county, vote to prohibit the operation of medical marijuana stores, medical marijuana cultivation facilities, and medical marijuana products manufacturers' licenses.    All businesses for the purpose of cultivation, manufacture, or sale of medical marijuana or medical marijuana products, as defined in this article 10, are subject to the terms and conditions of this article 10 and any rules promulgated pursuant to this article 10.         A person applying for licensure pursuant to this article 10 must complete forms as provided by the state licensing authority and must pay the application fee and the licensing fee, which must be credited to the marijuana cash fund established pursuant to section 44-10-801. The state licensing authority shall forward, within seven days, one-half of the retail marijuana business license application fee to the local jurisdiction unless the application is for an accelerator cultivator, accelerator manufacturer, or accelerator store license or unless the local jurisdiction has prohibited the operation of retail marijuana businesses pursuant to section 16 (5)(f) of article XVIII of the state constitution. If the license is denied, the state licensing authority shall refund the licensing fee to the applicant.    The state licensing authority shall act upon a retail marijuana business license application made pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section no sooner than forty-five days and no later than ninety days after the date of the retail marijuana business license application. The state licensing authority shall process retail marijuana business license applications in the order in which complete applications are received by the state licensing authority.       As provided in section 16 (5)(f) of article XVIII of the state constitution, any local jurisdiction may enact ordinances or regulations governing the time, place, manner, and number of retail marijuana businesses, which may include a local licensing requirement, or may prohibit the operation of retail marijuana businesses through the enactment of an ordinance or through a referred or initiated measure. If a county acts through an initiated measure, the proponents shall submit a petition signed by not less than fifteen percent of the registered electors in the county.    This article 10 sets forth the exclusive means by which cultivation, manufacture, sale, distribution, dispensing, and testing of regulated marijuana and regulated marijuana products may occur in the state of Colorado.      Nothing in this article 10 is intended to require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale, or cultivating of regulated marijuana in the workplace or to affect the ability of employers to have policies restricting the use of marijuana by employees.    Nothing in this article 10 prohibits a person, employer, school, hospital, detention facility, corporation, or any other entity that occupies, owns, or controls a property from prohibiting or otherwise regulating the possession, consumption, use, display, transfer, distribution, sale, transportation, or cultivating of regulated marijuana on or in that property.    Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection (5), holding or exercising the privileges of any license issued pursuant to this article 10 shall not constitute an unsuitable or unlawful act or practice within the meaning of the statutes and rules governing the Colorado limited gaming control commission.        History. Source: L. 2019: Entire article added with relocations,(SB 19-224), ch. 315, p. 2835, § 5, effective January 1, 2020. L. 2020: (2)(a) amended,(HB 20-1424), ch. 184, p. 843, § 2, effective September 14.    Editor's note:   This section is similar to former §§ 44-11-103 , 44-11-106 , and 44-12-104 as they existed prior to 2020.   ANNOTATION   Debtors licensed to grow and dispense medical marijuana cannot obtain bankruptcy relief. While debtors have not engaged in intrinsically evil conduct, they cannot obtain bankruptcy relief because their marijuana business activities are federal crimes. In re Arenas, 535 B.R. 845 (10th Cir. 2015) (decided under former § 12-43.3-103 ).