Konopé Compliance helped pass HB22-1222 - providing more protection for cannabis industry workers in Colorado
I’ve been busy since the last post…I did a thing…HB22-1222
New Law Better Protects Cannabis Industry Employees - WESTWORD Denver
Hello! The Konopé Blog is back! Long time no see, uh?
I wanted to let you know about something pretty cool I’ve been working on for the past couple of years. HB22-1222 was signed into law in April of this year. It is the culmination of a lot of trial and error and hard work. Since 2017, I’ve been trying to update responsible vendor training rules in Colorado with little to no luck. That is, until Rep. Kerry Tipper, my former state representative from Lakewood, CO, decided she would take it on and sponsor the Bill. As I came to find out, an actual ‘constituent Bill’ is very rare but a positive example of how Government can and should work, for the People, by the People.
I first became aware of the problem in 2016, when I started Konopé Compliance. The wording in the statute for Responsible Vendor Training in Colorado was disincentivizing dispensaries from taking the voluntary training, and no one up until that point had done anything to fix it.
The first issue was dispensaries that voluntarily took advantage of Responsible Vendor Training (RVT) - meaning they had all their employees complete an accredited training program - received what the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) called a ‘mitigating factor’. In other words, if all employees had completed the training and the dispensary received a violation and or a fine from the MED for non-compliance, the dispensary’s fine would not be as hefty as it would be if they hadn’t had their employees complete RVT. The dispensary had ‘protection,’ but the employees didn’t. This is important to note because, as stated in the Westword article, a non-compliance violation at the dispensary was associated with the store and the employees who committed the non-compliant act. Whatever it may be, the dispensary had a mitigating factor, but the employees did not.
Now, after HB22-1222, employees and the dispensary can take advantage of the mitigating factor if they have completed RVT from an approved provider, like Konopé Compliance.
Because the old statute was written the way it was, assigning the mitigating factor only to the dispensary, the only way to fix this problem was to change the statute. The only way to change the statute is to write a new piece of legislation correcting the wording. As some of you may know, that’s no easy task. There are large and small, well-funded lobbying groups that may fight the legislation and not let it pass, and that’s if you can find a sponsor to get the legislation drafted. Drafting a Bill is almost impossible unless you have the ear of a State Representative or State Senator. And as I found out over the course of 3 years, that is also no easy feat without the help of a lobbying group or lobbyist that already has the ear of the lawmaker(s). That is their job, after all. I had to learn to play the game, good, bad, or indifferent.
The second issue that disincentivized dispensaries from taking advantage of the voluntary training was that each new employee hired at the store needed to complete the training within their first 90 days to keep the mitigating factor associated with the store license. With such high turnover rates, dispensaries didn’t want to pay to have their entire staff trained, only to train all new hires within 90 days to keep their mitigating factor. The certificate of completion from RVT was not associated with the employee. It was associated with the store.
Now, after HB22-1222, dispensary employees can take their certificates from dispensary job to dispensary job, so long as they completed RVT within the last two years from an approved provider, like Konopé Compliance. The certificate of completion now works just like any other professional certificate and is a part of the employee’s resumé. That is important on multiple levels. First, dispensaries may now want to take advantage of RVT for their employees because of the mitigating factor and the fact that they can hire additional employees who already have their certificates without having to pay for them to retake the training. Second, employees can bolster their resumé by showing their certificate of completion of an approved RVT course and showcase their ability to comprehend Colorado state compliance rules and regs that pertain to their operations in a dispensary. The cherry on top of all of these changes is the ability for a potential employee with NO EXPERIENCE to gain some experience by completing an accredited RVT course before applying for positions in the cannabis industry.
After almost 13 years in the cannabis industry, I can honestly say this achievement is one I am most proud of. I could not have done this without a lot of help along the way, and for that help, I will be forever grateful. One last step in this journey will be completing the rulemaking workgroup later this July with the MED. After that meeting, the official regulations for 2023 will include the language from HB22-1222. Jan 1st, 2023, will officially start the new and improved RVT program here in Colorado. I’m excited to improve access to RVT with the ultimate goal of getting more of the workforce trained and educated on their responsibility to protect the health and public safety of consumers of cannabis and cannabis products in Colorado.
I am forever grateful for the opportunities this industry and this plant have provided my family and me over the years. I am truly honored that I was able to do something that hopefully gives back to the next generation of cannabis industry employees and entrepreneurs. I believe in training and education which is why I started Konopé Compliance with the single goal of helping other employees like myself be empowered with the knowledge needed to take their careers to the next level. We are, after all, in the compliance business, and if we do things correctly, we have the privilege to help provide a better quality of life to our patients, customers, family, and friends.
Thanks for reading.
I wish you all the best.
Here’s to another 13 years in this crazy industry! Let’s leave it better than we found it!
-Colin Mudd
Founder + Principal Consultant for Konopé Consutling, LLC