DENVER — A Colorado cannabis company has filed an appeal to challenge the Marijuana Enforcement Division's (MED) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) policies.
Current Colorado law requires RFID tags to be used on marijuana plants and packages from seed to sale. According to the appeal, the RFID tags are costly for Colorado cannabis businesses.
Lifestyle Foods, Inc., known as Ripple, which filed the appeal, claims it spends more than $1,400 per month on the tags.
Ripple filed a petition in 2023 asking MED to remove the requirement for RFID tags from its rules.
"MED responded by removing the requirement for RFID tags from the rules, but later asserted that RFID tags would remain a requirement unless and until Metrc voluntarily agreed to provide non-RFID tags," according to a statement from Ripple's Senior Counsel, Gene Watkins.
The appeal states that the decision led to a "confusing outcome."
The appeal describes the confusion saying, "MED has had to correct the misunderstanding created by its oral modification of the rule, both in the press (MED press release following a Denver 7 article) and to the licensees (via an Industry Bulletin). Those corrections would not be required for a clearly written rule."
Ripple is challenging MED's continuing requirement for RFID tags on the following grounds:
(1) the requirement is unnecessary;
(2) the contract between MED and Metrc for the RFID tags is void because it was enacted without due process, as required by Colorado’s Administrative Procedures Act;
(3) the contract impermissibly funneled fees to METRC in violation of Colorado law requiring all industry fees flow to MED (C.R.S. 44-10-802); and
(4) the MED failed to provide adequate notice to stakeholders that it would continue to require RFID tags despite the requirement having been stricken from MED’s own rules.
Denver7 reached out to MED for comment. MED said it cannot comment on pending litigation.
