Marijuana Business Owners Frustrated as Licensing Fees More Than Double

Marijuana business owners say they expected fees to go up after a new law was approved by lawmakers earlier this year — but not by this much.We're in the midst of our summer membership campaign, and we have until August 25 to raise $14,500. Your contributions are an investment in our election coverage – they help sustain our newsroom, help us plan, and could lead to an increase in freelance writers or photographers.

Marijuana business owners say they expected fees to go up after Senate Bill 24-076 was approved by lawmakers earlier this year — but not by this much, or so quickly. According to Marijuana Industry Group, a Colorado-based trade organization that pushed for the bill, licensing fees will rise by as much as 265 percent for new applicants and 110 percent for renewing businesses. MIG executive director Truman Bradley says that despite expectations of a jump in fees, he was surprised by the new amounts.

"Everybody thought fees were going up. We expected to pay something, like, a 50 percent increase, and we could all save a little bit. The idea is if they're doing renewals once every two years now, then it's not the same amount of work. Of course, they're not going to increase it by 10 percent, but to double it?" says Chris Kaiser, owner of southern Colorado cultivation Bubba's Kush."Now everybody has to fork over more money. ...

According to Draper, the inflationary-based bump"is consistent with the messaging provided" by the MED in previous public meetings. Because the fee hikes were part of an emergency rule adoption, the MED has 120 days from August 7 to adopt them permanently or they will expire. There will be more opportunities for public comment and dialogue about licensing fees during the division's ongoing stakeholder sessions this summer, Draper adds.

"The recent emergency rule announcement reflects only initial steps to implementation of Senate Bill 24-076. As the Division proceeds through the permanent rulemaking process, it will consider changes to the initially adopted emergency rules before they are adopted as permanent rules," she notes.

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