C. Michael Pickens said he thought he had nothing to lose. He felt strongly that the members of the House Business Affairs committee were lining up Tuesday in support of a bill he strongly opposes that would regulate cannabis edibles in order to make them look less like candy and so less attractive to children.

So Pickens let loose on bill sponsor Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver.

“Where’s it going to stop?” he said, sitting next to Pabon before the committee panel. “Fruit flavored alcohol? Where is it going to stop? Rep. Pabon, when you got your DUI, what were you drinking? Was it fruit flavored? …Where do you get the right to tell these companies they have to retool millions of dollars of equipment?”

Pabon, who is speaker pro tem in the House, was arrested in March and charged with driving under the influence. He made an emotional floor speech on the arrest, apologizing for his lapse in judgment and noting the irony of the fact that he has championed stiffer penalties for drinking and driving in the state. Pabon followed in the days after by giving frank interviews to the media. He retained his leadership position in the House and dove back into the work of the Legislature.

Pickens’s comments seemed to come out of the blue. They landed in the committee room like a dropped stack of plates at a restaurant.

Pickens is a resident of Washington state. He is a cannabis-industry and libertarian politics consultant, coach and speaker. He works with the group Libertarian Leadership and holds positions with the Libertarian Party of Washington. He said he was in Colorado for a speaking engagement and wanted to testify on Pabon’s edibles bill to share his experience on similar matters in Washington.

The bill, HB 1436, passed out of committee.

Reached after testimony, Pickens said that Pabon’s DUI arrest had been brought to his attention and that, in referencing it, he meant to underline hypocrisy.

“I think it’s hypocritical of him putting this bill forward about making businesses be responsible for something that parents should be responsible for, especially when he isn’t responsible himself,” Pickens told The Colorado Statesman. “I don’t think (my testimony) was too much. I think what they’re doing is too much.”

Pickens was followed in testimony by the Libertarian Party of Colorado’s Chairman Nathan Grabau, who asked lawmakers why it would be acceptable to use force against manufacturers if they refused to comply with the law.

Committee member Rep. Paul Rosenthal, D-Denver, asked Grabau if he thought the government had an obligation to safeguard children.

“What we’re authorizing is people in full SWAT gear to break down people’s doors, families doors who are manufacturing marijuana edibles that are shaped inappropriately,” Grabau said in response. “The use of force is going to do more harm than it has the ability to protect.”

Committee Chairwoman Angela Williams, D-Denver, cut testimony short and called for a vote on the bill.

— Ramsey@coloradostatesman.com