Who regulates cannabis retail in Colorado?

Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) is the state cannabis regulator for Colorado. Official site: https://med.colorado.gov.

What seed-to-sale track-and-trace system does Colorado use?

Colorado uses METRC (Franwell) for seed-to-sale traceability — the de-facto standard across most regulated states. CannAgent maps its inventory and transfer events to METRC's required fields.

Is CannAgent available for Colorado dispensaries?

Yes — Colorado is a featured onboarding market. The MED-aware POS and back office is available now; request a scoped demo at /demo.

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MED

Active market

Colorado MED-aware dispensary platform

Built for the Colorado operator who’s tired of a POS that hasn’t shipped a meaningful change in two years. MED rules native — METRC integration, the 15% retail sales tax charged in lieu of (not on top of) the 2.9% state rate, the 2.9% medical lane, REASON-coded inventory adjustments, and a rec/medical split the regulator expects.

Regulator

Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED)

https://med.colorado.gov ↗

We re-check this regulatormonthly— stable rules, low expected churn

Statutes that bite

Citation	Subject
1 CCR 212-3	Colorado Marijuana Rules — primary rules
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-220	Surveillance, security, alarm requirements
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-905	Sales transaction requirements
1 CCR 212-3 R 6-205	Advertising — permitted and prohibited
C.R.S. § 39-28.8-202	Retail marijuana sales tax — 15% state special

Tax stack

Excise

15% Retail Marijuana Excise Tax at the producer→retailer transfer (cost-basis, not a customer line) — separate from the 15% retail sales tax below.

Sales / Use

Adult-use retail: 15% Retail Marijuana Sales Tax IN LIEU OF the 2.9% state sales tax — they do NOT stack (retail marijuana is exempt from the 2.9%). Medical: 2.9% state sales tax (the 15% retail sales tax does not apply). Plus local in both lanes.

Local option

Local-option sales tax varies by jurisdiction and applies on top of the lane rate; auto-tagged per store address.

Compliance topics surfaced in-platform

Age 21+ rec / 18+ medical ID verification with split lanes
METRC tag → POS line item handoff with manifest reconciliation
Patient registry lookup hook (medical store profile)
Daily sales summary export shaped for MED record-keeping
Inventory adjustment categories aligned to MED reason-codes

What ships on day-1 for CO

Recreational + medical product lanes with separate tax stacks
REASON-coded inventory adjustments aligned to MED reason-code taxonomy (so audits cite the same vocabulary the regulator uses)
METRC-shaped inventory + sale receipt mirror
Local-option tax derivation from store address (no manual table maintenance)
Metrc API integration + clean data-handoff continuity — receipts and inventory mirror the Metrc-shaped record so a POS switch or vendor change doesn't break your audit trail (Colorado does not register software vendors, so we don't claim a filing we can't make).
Manager write-up assistant configurable to CO labor + MED rule taxonomy

We serve here — honestly

We don’t operate stores in Colorado. We do read the regs and the bulletins, and we’ve built CO support against the same compliance discipline we use in WA. If you’re a CO operator who wants a partner who treats your rules with the same weight as WSLCB, we’d like to talk.

Operator playbooks

Compliance ops playbook

State traceability reconciliation — the daily, weekly, monthly discipline

Buyer scorecard

Picking a cannabis POS: the 7-question scorecard

Migration playbook

POS migration: a 4-week playbook for cannabis dispensaries

Operations deep-dive

Cash discipline at a cannabis dispensary: variance, escalation, audit

Colorado cannabis retail — common questions

Who regulates cannabis retail in Colorado?: Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) is the state cannabis regulator for Colorado. Official site: https://med.colorado.gov.
What seed-to-sale track-and-trace system does Colorado use?: Colorado uses METRC (Franwell) for seed-to-sale traceability — the de-facto standard across most regulated states. CannAgent maps its inventory and transfer events to METRC's required fields.
What cannabis taxes apply to retail in Colorado?: 15% Retail Marijuana Excise Tax at the producer→retailer transfer (cost-basis, not a customer line) — separate from the 15% retail sales tax below. Adult-use retail: 15% Retail Marijuana Sales Tax IN LIEU OF the 2.9% state sales tax — they do NOT stack (retail marijuana is exempt from the 2.9%). Medical: 2.9% state sales tax (the 15% retail sales tax does not apply). Plus local in both lanes. Local-option sales tax varies by jurisdiction and applies on top of the lane rate; auto-tagged per store address.
Is CannAgent available for Colorado dispensaries?: Yes — Colorado is a featured onboarding market. The MED-aware POS and back office is available now; request a scoped demo at /demo.

See it on your CO data.

30-minute demo on a sandbox shaped like your store. End the call with a fixed-scope quote and a CO-aware cutover plan.

Request a demo →See the full feature set