Barbara Brohl, chief operating officer of the Colorado Department of Revenue speaks to Illinois lawmakers about how Colorado regulates and taxes the sale of recreational marijuana April 19 in Chicago. (Blueroomstream)

Illinois lawmakers heard April 19 from a Colorado official about how recreational marijuana rolled out in the state where it’s been legal since 2014.

But some law enforcement opponents were disappointed not to be allowed to speak to the Chicago gathering of the Illinois Senate Joint Appropriation Committee and the House Public Safety Committee.

Senate Bill 316 and HB 2353 propose the sale of recreational marijuana in Illinois. It is unclear when these bills will be presented to the General Assembly.

“We need to have an in-depth conversation about all the aspects that a policy change of this magnitude means for our state,” said the House bill’s sponsor State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago).

The state already has legalized medical marijuana, and 17,000 Illinois residents with recognized medical conditions are registered to purchase and use it.

About 3,000 Colorado businesses revolve around cannabis — recreational and medical — and they generate about $200 million in tax revenue a year, the state’s chief revenue officer Barbara Brohl said.

Brohl outlined some of the best practices and pitfalls of the sale and regulation of recreational marijuana.

The demand for marijuana, both medical and recreational, in Colorado is around 130.3 metric tons, including eight tons to the tourist market, according to a Colorado Department of Revenue Market Size and Demand study. About 485,000 adults, or 9 percent of the total population of 5.63 million, were considered “regular marijuana users,” using at least once monthly, according to the report. Of those, 70 percent of adults are heavy users, (about 40,000) who use marijuana almost daily.

In addition, Colorado tried to measure the “gray market” where 184,000 residents under 21 reported using marijuana in the past year and 59,000 reported heavy use (in the past month).

Brohl, who said she was “neither an opponent or proponent” of marijuana, warned that in order to tax recreational marijuana, there had to be a thorough regulation system. “Good regulation costs money,” Brohl said. Plants are tracked from “seed to sale,” sometimes with RFID tags on every plant. Public health is the top priority, she said, so there are laws that the product cannot be consumed on store premises or in public. Every grower, distributor and vendor must have video surveillance, Brohl said.

Colorado charges three different taxes on marijuana. A 15 percent excise tax is charged on unprocessed pot. Of that, the first $40 million goes to school construction projects. Any additional funds stay in the public school system, she said. In addition, there is a special 10 percent sales tax on marijuana products at the point of sale. Of that, 85 percent goes to the state of Colorado, and 15 percent to the local taxing body. On top of that, there is a 2.9 percent Colorado sales tax. Those funds go to pay for regulatory expenses as well as help fund programs for youth prevention and substance abuse and treatment, Brohl said.

One pitfall to recognize: Marijuana is still classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic and illegal in the eyes of the federal government. Not only does this mean that federal banking laws prohibit processing the profits of narcotic sales, but other federal agencies cannot partner with states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture had to figure out which pesticides could be used, because they couldn’t ask the Colorado Environmental Protection Agency for help, she said. Likewise the public health department had to develop lab protocols that might normally be provided from the FDA.

“You’ll have to do some things you normally have left to federal partners,” she said.

Colorado has also regretted allowing individuals to grow their own, she said. Until recently, Colorado residents could have up to 99 cannabis plants for personal use. Some high-profile arrests of interstate drug traffickers have led to new laws proposed to limit personal plants to 12. Illinois’ proposed legislation allows up to five plants.

Legality was on the minds of law enforcement officials who came to the hearing and were not allowed to testify.

Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said he waited three hours to testify on behalf of the 1,200 members of Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police in 450 agencies.

“I submitted my written testimony to the panel, but they could have thrown it in the garbage, for all I know,” Weitzel said.

“This is just another example of how our state legislators have very little respect for law enforcement leadership throughout the state of Illinois.” Weitzel said in a statement. Wetizel said the panel needed input from “the officers who were out enforcing the law.”

Law enforcement officials think legalizing and selling recreational pot will have “a significant cost to society,” said the chiefs association’s Board Chair, James Kruger, police chief of the Village of Oak Brook.

“It’s short-term thinking that we’re willing to compromise our values for short term financial gain and not looking at long-term effects to society, like loss of productivity, and what recreational pot may be doing to adolescent brains, five or 10 years from now.”

Law enforcement agencies say legalization has led to a sharp increase in marijuana traffic deaths in Colorado and Washington since pot was legalized. Emergency room visits for children who have ingested marijuana products have also increased.

Marijuana-related traffic deaths in Colorado have increased by 62 percent since 2013. In the State of Washington, fatal crashes involving drivers who recently used marijuana has doubled since legalization there, according to a fact sheet provided by Illinois law enforcement organizations.

There is no reliable way, in a suspected Driving Under the Influence arrest, to quickly measure cannabis intoxication, listed as .5 nanograms per milliliter, without taking a suspect to the hospital for a blood draw, Kruger said. The THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content that causes psychoactive reactions in today’s marijuana is up to six times more concentrated than in the past, Kruger said.

“It’s ironic that we’re trying to raise the age to purchase cigarettes to 21 and we want to propose taxing sugary drinks, but we’re willing to introduce cannabis,” Kruger said.

Nonetheless, Kruger said law enforcement agencies in Illinois were hoping to make sure lawmakers knew the risks before taking on recreational marijuana.

“We anticipate having opportunity in the future to express our concerns [in Springfield],” Kruger said. “The association will be putting out information and statistics that cause concern for us,” he said.

—  Illinois legislators hear pros and pitfalls of recreational pot    —