The Marijuana Enforcement Division’s statement analyzes existing regulations and provides clarity on specific limitations for cannabis transportation services.

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.

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