Colorado cannabis employee training requirements

Colorado's responsible vendor designation is optional for most stores, but it is required for businesses with a delivery permit and for every employee of a marijuana hospitality business. To hold the designation, owners with day-to-day control, managers over sales or training, and staff who handle marijuana must complete an MED-approved program of at least two hours. New hires have 90 days, and everyone retrains every two years. A current designation counts as a mitigating factor if the business is penalized for a violation.

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Colorado

Responsible vendor program

Who: For most stores, responsible vendor designation is optional.
New hires: To keep the business's designation, new owners with operational control, new managers and employees with sales or training duties must complete approved training within 90 days.
After that: Every two years.
State-approved course needed: Yes, if you want the designation. It must come from an MED-approved trainer
Courses from: $50 a seat, less for teams

Regulator: Marijuana Enforcement Division

Courses for Colorado

Buy one seat or a hundred. After checkout you assign seats to staff in your Learn Brands account, and certificates are stored there for inspections.

Colorado Responsible Vendor Training by Stoker

Colorado Responsible Vendor Training (Stoker)

About 4 hours. By Stoker Consulting, sold through Learn Brands.

Stoker Consulting's Colorado Responsible Vendor Training, online and self-paced. The MED list shows Stoker as an approved provider, re-certified Dec. 13, 2024.

$50 a seat. Team pricing: 50 to 99 seats $40, 100+ seats $30.

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Colorado Sell-SMaRT Responsible Vendor Training

3+ hours. By Sell-SMaRT, sold through Learn Brands.

Sell-SMaRT Responsible Vendor Training from Cannabis Trainers, which is on the Marijuana Enforcement Division's approved trainer list. Safe, compliant practices and how to handle the hard situations at the counter.

$97 a seat. Team pricing: 2 to 24 seats $77, 25 to 74 seats $67, 75+ seats $57.

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What the training has to cover

Health and safety of marijuana use, including health effects (including during pregnancy and breastfeeding), time to impairment, signs of impairment, driving, safe storage and over-consumption
Preventing transfers to minors
Quantity limits on transfers to patients and consumers
Acceptable identification, spotting and confiscating false IDs, and patient registry cards
Other key state laws and rules, including licensing and enforcement, inventory tracking, liability and sanctions, waste disposal, security and surveillance, permitted hours, inspections, records, privacy, packaging and labeling, and delivery
Delivery curriculum for businesses with a delivery permit
Hospitality curriculum for licensed hospitality businesses

Does the course need state approval?

Only providers on the MED's approved list can confer the designation. Providers must have their program approved by the MED (with the health portions reviewed by CDPHE) and renew approval every two years. Courses must cover the Rule 3-520 core curriculum and end with a knowledge test passed at 70% or better. Online delivery is allowed if the provider's system verifies identity and tracks attendance. Stoker Consulting, LLC (re-certified Dec. 13, 2024) and Cannabis Trainers (re-certified Dec. 5, 2025) are both on the MED list.

Records to keep

Keep records of which owners and employees passed and when, plus the provider's proof of attendance and test results, for the current year and the three prior years. Individuals keep their own designation records.

Why it matters at inspection

A current responsible vendor designation, held before the violation and the MED investigation, is a mitigating factor when state or local licensing authorities set penalties.

How our courses fit

Colorado Responsible Vendor Training: Stoker. Built by Stoker Consulting, LLC. The MED list shows Stoker re-certified on Dec. 13, 2024, and providers renew every two years, so check that Stoker is still on the list before staff take the course. About four hours online, well above the two-hour minimum. Completing it earns the individual a two-year designation.

Colorado Sell-SMaRT Responsible Vendor Training. Sell-SMaRT is the program of Cannabis Trainers, which is on the MED's approved provider list. Three or more hours online with a 70% passing exam, and it includes a delivery bonus section. Confirm with Cannabis Trainers that this course version is the MED-approved Colorado track before relying on it for designation.

Colorado training questions

Is responsible vendor training required in Colorado?

It is optional for most stores. It is required for stores and transporters with a delivery permit and for all employees of marijuana hospitality businesses.

Why get the designation if it is optional?

Regulators must treat a current designation as a mitigating factor when setting penalties for a violation. It also lets you add a delivery permit.

How long do new hires have to complete training?

90 days from starting work, or the business loses its designation. If the new hire already holds a valid designation, verify it within 90 days.

How often does the designation need to be renewed?

Every two years. The individual's designation expires two years after it is issued.

Can staff take the training online?

Yes, from an MED-approved provider whose system verifies identity and tracks attendance. The course must be at least two hours with a 70% passing test.

Does the designation transfer if an employee changes jobs?

Yes. It stays valid at another licensed business until it expires.

Sources

Rules: C.R.S. 44-10-1202 (responsible vendor program; mitigating factor), C.R.S. 44-10-609(3)(b) (hospitality businesses), 1 CCR 212-3, Rules 3-505, 3-515, 3-520, 3-615, 3-905 and 8-235 (official copy; revised rules take effect Nov. 1, 2026), MED approved responsible vendor program providers.

Last checked 2026-10-24. This page summarizes public rules and is not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm with Marijuana Enforcement Division before relying on it.

Other states

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