In the last days of the 2013 session, the Colorado legislature passed HB 1317, a 73-page bill that sets out the framework for implementing Amendment 64, which legalized possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for persons over 21. Buried in the text is a provision that requires the Department of Revenue to promulgate regulations “requiring that magazines whose primary focus is marijuana or marijuana business are only sold in retail marijuana stores or behind the counter in establishments where persons under twenty-one years of age are present.”
On behalf of bookstores, newsstands and two bookseller organizations, ACLU lawyers and lawyers for the Media Coalition filed suit to challenge the new statute as a violation of the First Amendment rights of magazine retailers and their customers.
Within a week, Colorado officials agreed to a settlement and a consent decree. On June 11, 2013, the court entered a permanent injunction against enforcement of the challenged regulation.
ACLU news release:
- "Bookstores and newsstands challenge law violating First Amendment rights," ACLU News Release, June 4, 2013
Media:
- “Colorado regulators won’t enforce marijuana magazine restrictions,” The Denver Post, June 6, 2013
- “Colorado regulators won’t enforce marijuana magazine restrictions,” The Denver Post, June 6, 2013
- "State agrees to permanently block law restricting marijuana magazines," ACLU News Release, June 10, 2013
ACLU case number
2013-08
