There are eight things you can’t ask your bud tender. You CAN buy marijuana at a dispensary in Boulder, as long as you are old enough and have not exceeded your daily purchase limit. Your bud tender will be knowledgeable, and happy to share that knowledge. BUT can they share answers or information about anything related to marijuana that you might ask? Most certainly NOT! Here’s a guide to what to NOT ask so that you and your bud tender can remain on the best of terms.

1. 1. You Cannot Ask Budtender About Illegal Activity  Discussing illegal activities is strictly prohibited. Bud tenders cannot provide advice or information that would facilitate illegal cannabis use or any activity that violates state law. It gets fuzzier when the question is whether or not something violates state law, since that may be giving legal advice, which of course they  also cannot do.
   2. Medical Advice: While bud tenders can provide information about the effects of cannabis strains and products, they are not medical professionals. They cannot provide medical advice, diagnose conditions, or recommend cannabis as a treatment for specific medical issues.  I wonder if a good approach is to present anecdotal information with transparency, if done cautiously. “Some believe that…” “some have reported…”

   3. Consumption on Premises

      Discussing or suggesting the consumption of cannabis on the dispensary premises or any public place is off-limits. Public consumption of cannabis remains illegal, and dispensaries must comply with regulations that prohibit the use of their products on-site. They must, IMO, answer the question “where can I smoke this beautiful bud, rolled with the papers you sold me, using the grinder that you sold me?” The answer is not at all cool in Colorado, and we’re working on it. I think selling product and setting people free from the store, totally ignorant, is a real disservice. This is a very tricky area IMO.

   4. Underage Use

      Conversations that suggest or encourage underage cannabis use are not permitted. This includes providing information on how minors can obtain or consume cannabis products. Dispensaries and their employees must adhere to strict age verification processes to prevent underage access to cannabis. There are SEVERE consequences for selling to an underage person. There are stings by the MED Marijuana Enforcement Division to trap dispensaries into this very action.

   5. Cross-State Transportation: Bud tenders cannot advise on or suggest transporting cannabis across state lines. Cannabis is still illegal under federal law, and its transportation between states, even between two states where cannabis is legal, violates federal law
   6. Product Guarantees for Specific Outcomes: While bud tenders can share general information about the effects of products, they should not guarantee specific outcomes for individuals. The effects of cannabis can vary widely from person to person.
   7. Personal Data Sharing: Customers should not be asked to share personal, non-required information that does not relate to the legal purchase of cannabis. Privacy laws and dispensary policies typically are not shared, yet protections are questionable.
   8. Looping is a great topic to not talk about. Dispensaries can only sell me, recreationally, one oz of flower or the THC legal equivalent. I can possess up to 2 oz flower. I can’t go back to the favorite local shop the same day to buy more, BUT I can go to the shop up the street and buy another oz, and continue shop to shop with this “looping.” My dispensary will sell me another oz tomorrow, and another the day after, but going shop to shop has no current limit that I’m aware of. Discussion of this with the bud tender can be a touchy area. Asking what you can buy is always appropriate. Asking how soon you can return to buy more is fine. Asking if you can go up the street the same day to buy more is ill advised. The law as I understand it is fuzzy, and the limit on how much can be possessed in total, the 2 oz limit, probably controls in Colorado. So to explain that you can break that law by looping, without the cooperation of the dispensaries, is a no-no.
   9. 

Finally disclaimer. This is required since my legal training and experience mandates it. The law is in a constant state a flux. Individual shops may have their own rules for their bud tenders. Some are rational, some are nuts. Achieving a balance between being a great source of information re all things cannabis and avoiding  things which are off limits presents a true challenge for bud tenders and dispensaries.  It is easy to incorrectly say that every question calls for medical or legal advice. The answer for the cowards. NO legal advice is given nor is any intended. Every case is different. Call us or call your attorney with questions regarding your personal situation.

Lensworth

Shared Knowledge is Power!

Leonard Frieling Pen Of Justice

• Multi-published and syndicated blogger and author.
• University lectures at University. of Colorado, Boulder, Denver University Law School, Univ. of New Mexico, Las Vegas NM, and many other schools at all levels. Numerous lectures for the NORML Legal Committee
• Former Judge
• Media work, including episodes of Fox’s Power of Attorney, well in excess of many hundreds media interviews, appearances, articles, and podcasts, including co-hosting Time For Hemp for two years.
• Life Member, NORML Legal Committee, Distinguished Counsel Circle.
• Photographer of the Year, AboutBoulder 2023
• First Chair and Originator of the Colorado Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Committee, a National first.
• Previous Chair, Boulder Criminal Defense Bar (8 years)
• Twice chair Executive Counsel, Colorado Bar Association Criminal Law Section
• Life Member, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
• Board Member Emeritus, Colorado NORML, and prior chair during legalization, as well as pre and post legalization
• Chair, Colorado NORML, 7 years including during the successful effort to legalize recreational pot in Colorado
• Senior Counsel Emeritus to the Boulder Law firm Dolan + Zimmerman LLP : (720)-610-0951
• Board member, Author, and Editor for Criminal Law Articles for the Colorado Lawyer, primary publication of the Colorado Bar Assoc. 7 Years, in addition to having 2 Colorado Lawyer cover photos, and numerous articles for the Colorado Lawyer monthly publication.
• http://www.Lfrieling.com