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?

Colorado is a priority build market: the MED regulatory depth on this page is current and the CO code build is in flight. We can only set up stores in Washington and Arizona today — request a scoped demo and we’ll tell you exactly what is built for CO before you sign.

← All states

MED

Priority state

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 in flight, 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 churnLast checked 2026-08-30.

Statutes that bite

Citation	Subject
1 CCR 212-3	Colorado Marijuana Rules — primary rules
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-220	Security alarm systems and lock standards
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-225	Video surveillance — point-of-sale camera coverage
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-905	Business records required — retention and on-premises availability
1 CCR 212-3 R 3-705	Advertising general requirements — no deceptive, false or misleading advertising
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. We confirm your jurisdiction’s rate with you at onboarding — never a silent default.

Compliance topics surfaced in-platform

Age 21+ rec / 18+ medical with split lanes — and the operative counter rule is a QUANTITY cap, not an ID gate: 2 g/day of concentrate for an 18–20 patient vs 8 g/day at 21+, with both waived if the patient held a registry card before turning 18 (C.R.S. 44-10-501(10)(b)(III)). For an under-18 patient EACH Colorado-resident parent consents, the registry card is issued TO the parent-caregiver, and that caregiver controls the acquisition (C.R.S. 25-1.5-106(2.5)(i))
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 CannAgent is built toward 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
Metrc-shaped receipt + inventory mirror so a POS switch or vendor change doesn't break your audit trail — a direct Metrc API integration is in flight, not shipped (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

Coverage here — honestly

Colorado coverage is written against MED rules: the bulletins, the 15%-in-lieu-of-2.9% retail-tax structure, the 2.9% medical lane, and the METRC reconciliation cadence. We keep it current as MED moves, and where something isn’t built for CO yet we say so before you sign.

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. We confirm your jurisdiction’s rate with you at onboarding — never a silent default.
Is CannAgent available for Colorado dispensaries?: Colorado is a priority build market: the MED regulatory depth on this page is current and the CO code build is in flight. We can only set up stores in Washington and Arizona today — request a scoped demo and we’ll tell you exactly what is built for CO before you sign.

See it on your CO data.

30 minutes on the working product, walked by an operator who runs it on a retail floor. End the call with a fixed-scope quote and a CO-aware cutover plan.

Request a demo →See the full feature set