Colorado Finalizes Recreational Marijuana Rules

In 136 small-type pages, Colorado this week became the first state in the country to adopt final rules for recreational marijuana businesses.

The rules, released late Monday, cover everything from pot shop licensing to inventory tracking to marijuana packaging to advertising. They also represent the most comprehensive effort to date to take the once all-illegal marijuana market and harness it into what supporters say will be controlled, refined legitimacy.

Applications to open a recreational marijuana store can be filed starting in only three weeks. The first stores are expected to open around Jan.1, 2014.