What senators learned about Colorado's pot industry and how it could help Mass.

DENVER — FOX25 was the only television station there when Massachusetts lawmakers get an up close look at the marijuana industry in Colorado.

Anchor Vanessa Welch is in Denver, Colorado where they got to see the whole process from seed to sale. It was an 8 hour field trip that started at a lab where marijuana is extracted and ended at a facility where cannabis is grown and  sold. Just like any field trip there were a lot of lessons learned and some senators tell FOX25 they still have big concerns if voters say yes.

It was a unique show and tell for 8 Massachusetts senators touring a pot shop in Denver.

We were with them as they asked questions about price, potency and products.

Senators got a private tour of where the pot is grown at River Rocks but the owner gave FOX25 access afterwards. Senators told us it's been a successful trip.

Linda Dorcena Forry said, "It's up to the voters of Massachusetts in November but if it does come through we have learned a lot."

Tim Cullen is the CEO of

, another marijuana company. He told FOX25 pot is Colorado's new gold rush, a green rush of sorts. Seventy-eight people work there serving 150 customers per day.

"The goal of this entire program in the state of  Colorado and eventually to the entire nation is to crush the black market, so black market sales of marijuana no longer exist," he said.

He showed FOX25 how marijuana is tagged allowing the state to track the plants from seed to sale.

As soon as the plant is cloned it's tagged blue for recreational and yellow for medical; that tag stays with the plant as it matures in the warehouse and is then sold to the public.

But Colorado's green rush hasn't exactly been the money maker lawmakers expected. The governor's office estimates marijuana will generate $70-100 million dollars in tax revenue this year. A lot of that money goes to enforcement along with health and educational programs leaving the state to net about $55 million, a small percentage of its $27 billion dollar budget.

We wanted to know where the profits would go in  Massachusetts. Could they be used for the MBTA? Probably not.

Senator Jason Lewis says like Colorado a large chunk would be spent on enforcement,  and health education campaigns, with very little left over.

The senators did not sample any of the product. Senator Lewis said that was not part of this trip. They will take the lessons learned there and issue a report with recommendations to the senate president next month.

Cox Media Group