Report: CO Targeting Cannabis Businesses Violating MJ Rules

The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division has been cracking down on cannabis businesses violating state regulations, levying fines, forcing stores to close and even banning several people from selling marijuana, according to records obtained by KUSA-TV and USA Today.

The division, which has increased the number of full-time staff to 55, found some mundane violations such as improper door locks or poorly positioned cameras. But it also found unlicensed grow operations and stores selling marijuana that hadn’t been entered into the state’s mandatory tracking system, according to the report. Some stores were shut down and their marijuana was destroyed.

One couple was banned from the industry for 10 years and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, while brothers Luis and Gerardo Uribe were cited for selling outside of normal business hours, having more cannabis than they could legally account for and improper tracking of their customers.

The Uribes’ medical marijuana stores were accused of running a massive money-laundering operation after a raid by federal officers last fall.

KUSA and USA Today obtained records as part of an investigation into how the state is using data collected from Colorado’s legal marijuana market.