(1) Except as otherwise
provided in this article 10, it is unlawful for a person:
(a) Except in the licensed premises of a marijuana hospitality business
licensed pursuant to section 44-10-609 or a retail marijuana hospitality and sales
business licensed pursuant to section 44-10-610:
(I) To consume regulated marijuana or regulated marijuana products in a
licensed medical marijuana business or retail marijuana business; or
(II) For a medical marijuana business or retail marijuana business to allow
regulated marijuana or regulated marijuana products to be consumed upon its
licensed premises;
(b) With knowledge, to permit or fail to prevent the use of his or her medical
marijuana patient registry identification by any other person for the unlawful
purchasing of medical marijuana.
(2) It is unlawful for a person to:
(a) Buy, sell, transfer, give away, or acquire regulated marijuana or regulated
marijuana products except as allowed pursuant to this article 10 or section 14 or
section 16 of article XVIII of the state constitution;
(b) (I) Have a controlling beneficial ownership, passive beneficial ownership,
or indirect financial interest in a license pursuant to this article 10 that was not
disclosed in accordance with section 44-10-309; except that this subsection (2)(b)
does not apply to banks or savings and loan associations supervised and regulated
by an agency of the state or federal government, or to FHA-approved mortgagees,
or to stockholders, directors, or officers thereof;
(II) This subsection (2)(b) is repealed, effective January 5, 2026.
(c) Exercise any privilege of a license issued pursuant to this article 10 that
the person does not hold;
(d) [ Editor's note: This version of subsection (2)(d) is effective until January
5, 2026. ] Exercise any privilege associated with holding a controlling beneficial
ownership, passive beneficial ownership, or indirect financial interest in a license
that was not disclosed in accordance with section 44-10-309; or
(d) [ Editor's note: This version of subsection (2)(d) is effective January 5,
2026. ] Exercise any privilege associated with holding a controlling beneficial
ownership, passive beneficial ownership, or indirect financial interest in a license
that was not disclosed in accordance with section 44-10-309;
(e) Engage in transfer of ownership without prior approval as required by this
article 10, including but not limited to:
(I) A proposed transferee operating a medical marijuana business or retail
marijuana business before a transfer of ownership request for that business is
approved in writing by the state licensing authority; or
(II) A current controlling beneficial owner, passive beneficial owner, or
proposed transferor failing to retain full responsibility for a medical marijuana
business or retail marijuana business identified in the transfer of ownership
application until the transfer request is approved in writing by the state licensing
authority.
(III) This subsection (2)(e) is repealed, effective January 5, 2026.
(3) It is unlawful for a person licensed pursuant to this article 10:
(a) To fail to report a transfer required by section 44-10-313 (11);
(b) To knowingly adulterate or alter, or to attempt to adulterate or alter, any
samples of regulated marijuana or regulated marijuana products for the purpose of
circumventing contaminant testing detection limits or potency testing
requirements;
(c) To use advertising material that is misleading, deceptive, or false, or that
is designed to appeal to minors;
(d) To provide public premises, or any portion thereof, for the purpose of
consumption of regulated marijuana in any form, except in the licensed premises of
a marijuana hospitality business licensed pursuant to section 44-10-609 or a retail
marijuana hospitality and sales business licensed pursuant to section 44-10-610;
(e) To have in possession or upon the licensed premises any regulated
marijuana, the sale of which is not permitted by the license, except if it is for
purposes of recycling;
(f) To have on the licensed premises any regulated marijuana or marijuana
paraphernalia that shows evidence of the regulated marijuana having been
consumed or partially consumed, except:
(I) If it is for purposes of recycling; or
(II) In the licensed premises of a marijuana hospitality business licensed
pursuant to section 44-10-609 or a retail marijuana hospitality and sales business
licensed pursuant to section 44-10-610;
(g) To violate the provisions of section 6-2-103 or 6-2-105;
(h) To abandon a licensed premises or otherwise cease operation without
notifying the state and local licensing authorities at least forty-eight hours in
advance and without accounting for and forfeiting to the state licensing authority
for destruction all regulated marijuana or regulated marijuana products;
(i) To offer for sale or solicit an order for regulated marijuana in person
except within the licensed premises;
(j) To buy regulated marijuana from a person not licensed to sell as provided
by this article 10;
(k) To sell regulated marijuana except in the permanent location specifically
designated in the license for sale; or
(l) To burn or otherwise destroy regulated marijuana or any substance
containing regulated marijuana for the purpose of evading an investigation or
preventing seizure.
(4) It is unlawful for any person licensed to sell medical marijuana pursuant
to this article 10:
(a) (I) To sell medical marijuana to a person not licensed pursuant to this
article 10 or to a person not able to produce a valid patient registry identification
card, unless the person has a copy of a current and complete new application for
the medical marijuana registry administered by the department of public health and
environment that is documented by a certified mail return receipt as having been
submitted to the department of public health and environment within the preceding
thirty-five days and the employee assisting the person has contacted the
department of public health and environment and, as a result, determined the
person's application has not been denied. Notwithstanding any provision in this
subsection (4)(a)(I) to the contrary, a person under twenty-one years of age shall
not be employed to sell or dispense medical marijuana at a medical marijuana store
or grow or cultivate medical marijuana at a medical marijuana cultivation facility.
(II) If a licensee or a licensee's employee has reasonable cause to believe
that a person is exhibiting a fraudulent patient registry identification card in an
attempt to obtain medical marijuana, the licensee or employee is authorized to
confiscate the fraudulent patient registry identification card, if possible, and shall,
within seventy-two hours after the confiscation, turn it over to the state health
department or local law enforcement agency. The failure to confiscate the
fraudulent patient registry identification card or to turn it over to the state health
department or a state or local law enforcement agency within seventy-two hours
after the confiscation does not constitute a criminal offense.
(b) To require a medical marijuana store or medical marijuana store with a
medical marijuana cultivation facility license to make delivery to any premises other
than the specific licensed premises where the medical marijuana is to be sold.
(5) It is unlawful for any person licensed to sell retail marijuana or retail
marijuana products pursuant to this article 10:
(a) To sell or permit the sale of retail marijuana or retail marijuana products
to a person under twenty-one years of age; or
(b) To distribute marijuana or marijuana products, with or without
remuneration, directly to another person using a mobile distribution store.
(6) It shall be unlawful for a physician who makes patient referrals to a
licensed medical marijuana store to receive anything of value from the medical
marijuana store licensee or its agents, servants, officers, or owners or anyone
financially interested in the licensee, and it shall be unlawful for a licensee licensed
pursuant to this article 10 to offer anything of value to a physician for making
patient referrals to the licensed medical marijuana store.
(7) A peace officer or a law enforcement agency shall not use any patient
information to make traffic stops pursuant to section 42-4-1302.
(8) (a) It is unlawful for a person to engage in any act or omission with the
intent to evade disclosure, reporting, record keeping, or suitability requirements
pursuant to this article 10, including but not limited to the following:
(I) Failing to file a report required under this article 10 or causing or
attempting to cause a person to fail to file such a report;
(II) Filing or causing or attempting to cause a person to file a report required
under this article 10 that contains a material omission or misstatement of fact;
(III) Making false or misleading statements regarding the offering of an
owner's interest in a medical marijuana business or retail marijuana business; or
(IV) Structuring any transaction with the intent to evade disclosure,
reporting, record keeping, or suitability requirements pursuant to this article 10.
(b) The state licensing authority may deny, suspend, revoke, fine, or impose
other sanctions against a person's license issued under this article 10 if the state
licensing authority finds a violation of this subsection (8) by the person, the
person's controlling beneficial owner, passive beneficial owner, indirect financial
interest holder, or any agent or employee thereof.
(9) A person who commits any acts that are unlawful pursuant to this article
10 commits a class 2 misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-501. For violations that would also constitute a violation of title 18, the violation
shall be charged and prosecuted pursuant to title 18.