On March 19, 2019, the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (“MED”) issued a Statement of Position in response to questions about the scope of privileges for Transporter Licenses. The questions concerned whether the holder of a Transporter License could lawfully collect fees for facilitating or brokering wholesale cannabis transactions under either the Colorado Retail or Medical Marijuana Codes.
The MED’s Statement first clarified that a transporter may “only exercise those privileges granted to it by the state licensing authority.” Such privileges specifically include charging a fee for transportation and/or storage of retail or medical cannabis.
However, the MED’s Statement went on to conclude that transporters cannot collect fees for “facilitating or brokering wholesale transactions.” Rules M 1602(A) and R 1602(A) expressly prohibit a transporter from “selling, giving away, buying, or receiving complimentary” cannabis or cannabis products, and the MED specifically noted that:
“Facilitating or brokering a sale falls within the meaning of ‘selling’ marijuana which is prohibited by a Licensed Transporter. Facilitating or brokering a sale, therefore, is not one of the privileges granted to Licensed Transporters by the State Licensing Authority.”
Accordingly, the MED’s Statement warned transporters that they risk discipline, including fines and/or suspension or revocation of their licenses, if they collect fees for brokering or facilitating wholesale transactions.
