Colorado Springs, the largest metropolitan area in Colorado after Denver, is now enforcing a ban on certain CBD products sold at local medical marijuana dispensaries.
Last week, city officials ordered the removal of all Discover CBD products at the Healing Canna dispensary. Discover CBD’s labels state the products contain only CBD and no THC. According to Ferris Olvera, the district manager of Healing Canna, the CBD products cost $10,000 at wholesale.
How did Healing Canna lose out on ten grand worth of non-intoxicating CBD products? According to a city ordinance, it is illegal for a medical marijuana dispensary to “sell, transfer, or possess any products other than medical marijuana or medical marijuana-infused products or non-consumable cannabis related products and accessories.”
In other words, all dispensary products in Colorado Springs must be regulated and approved under the state’s medical marijuana system. Discover CBD’s products are sold as health and beauty supplements, not medical marijuana.
“When they did mention [the ordinance] to us, they also thought it was kind of a weird rule,” Olvera told KOAA. “So they didn’t feel like enforcing it at the time. I’m not sure what changed, but they did enforce it.”
According to a Colorado Springs police spokesperson, the city code was written to ensure all medical cannabis products sold within city limits were “properly tested per state regulations.” CBD products are not legally classified as “marijuana” under state law unless they contain significant amounts of THC (greater than 0.3 percent THC by weight).
Meanwhile, other storefronts that are not licensed to sell medical marijuana – such as gas stations and drug store chains – remain permitted, under city code, to carry CBD products.
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