Pubdate: Sat, 20 Jul 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

COLORADO'S "SEED-TO-SALE" SYSTEM WON'T START UNTIL AFTER THE BUDS ARE HARVESTED

Colorado's plans for a comprehensive system to track recreational 
marijuana from seed until sale won't be quite so comprehensive.

Officials from the state Department of Revenue this week said the 
system won't be able to start tracking marijuana weights until after 
the buds are harvested off the plant. The revelation came during a 
meeting of a stakeholder working group going over proposed rules for 
the forthcoming recreational marijuana industry. And it raised the 
concern of Ann Marie Jensen, a lobbyist for the Colorado Association 
of Chiefs of Police who is a member of the group.

Jensen asked how, without keeping track of plants before harvest, the 
state could be sure that marijuana growers weren't under-reporting 
harvest amounts and diverting pot illegally into the black market.

Maintaining such control of the recreational marijuana industry is 
seen as crucial in preventing federal raids against the businesses.

Lewis Koski, the head of investigations for the Colorado Marijuana 
Enforcement Division, said he understood the concern but that it 
wasn't possible to keep precise track of something as variable as plant growth.

He said the state would also use other tools-such as surveillance 
systems - to make sure stores are playing by the rules.

"I don't know that you can suggest that there is a system anywhere 
that can track 100 percent of the inventory by itself," Koski said. 
"It's part of a much bigger regulatory atmosphere."

Attempting to allay concerns, medical-marijuana dispensary owner Matt 
Huron, another working group member, said his business keeps 
measurements of plants before harvest, then rigorously tracks the 
weights of finished product and waste materials as a best practice.

"We do not weigh plants, but we do record them going from one cycle 
to another," Huron said.

Ron Kammerzell, the revenue department's head of enforcement, said 
Colorado has "reactivated" a $1.4 million contract with a company 
called Franwell to build a computer system for tracking marijuana 
batches by radio-frequency tag. The state had previously hired 
Franwell in 2011 to build such a system for the medical-marijuana 
industry, but money troubles caused the state to deactivate the contract.

"We think it's going to play a really important role in helping us 
accurately tax and assess taxes on the product," Kammerzell said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom