Limits could end for tourists

The legislation lets visitors to the state buy as much as residents.

Colorado’s tourists would be able to buy as much marijuana as residents if a bill moving through the legislature passes.

The measure repeals Colorado’s unique-in-the-nation tiered purchasing system for marijuana. All adults over 21 are allowed to possess an ounce of marijuana — but retail pot shops can’t sell more than a quarter-ounce in one day to people without Colorado identification.

The purchasing limits were established in 2013 to prevent marijuana diversion out of state.

Colorado pot regulators now say that tourists carrying small amounts of pot home aren’t the state’s main marijuana-diversion problem.

Instead, state regulators and local law enforcement point to underground pot growers as the most likely source of sending pot to states where the drug isn’t legal.

Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division, which oversees pot shops, has never cited a retailer for selling a tourist more than a quarter-ounce of pot.

But the industry fears that new possession limits on concentrated and edible pot due to take effect this fall would make it harder for retailers to keep track. That’s because the new rules don’t consider leafy pot amounts to be the same as, say, pot brownies or hash oil or a skin lotion infused with marijuana’s active ingredient.

“We’d have to hire math professors to work in the dispensaries” to keep track of purchasing limits, said Mark Slaugh, head of the Colorado Cannabis Business Alliance.

Removal of the tiered purchase limits is part of a routine renewal of Colorado’s pot regulations. That renewal has passed the state House and is awaiting approval in the state Senate, where an initial committee approved the change Wednesday.

Another rabid skunk has been found in the Denver metro area, according to the Tri-County Health Department

The skunk, which was in a residential area of Aurora, exposed two domestic pets to the virus Wednesday, officials announced Friday.

The skunk, found near Del Mar Park at East Sixth Avenue and Peoria Street, was tested and confirmed positive for rabies.

In Arvada on Monday, officials confirmed a rabid skunk, the first “terrestrial wild animal” to test positive for rabies in Jefferson County.

John M. Douglas Jr., executive director of the health department, said ensuring that all pets are up to date with rabies vaccination is crucial, as rabies in skunks has become a growing problem along the Front Range.

The department also suggested keeping all pets on a leash when out walking.