Pubdate: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO) Column: Cannabiz Copyright: 2013 Colorado Springs Independent Contact: http://www.csindy.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536 Author: Bryce Crawford FEDERAL MARIJUANA HEARINGS, TAXES, CNN AND THE DEA Answers, finally? Colorado state Sen. Pat Steadman recently made a small splash when he told Talking Points Memo that the state seems "to have tacit approval at this point" from the federal government to implement Amendment 64. Some federal legislators aren't so sure, though, so U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced Monday that the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he's chairman, will hold a hearing at 8 a.m. MDT, Sept. 10, on the issue of conflicts between U.S. and state law. Attorney General Eric Holder and Deputy Attorney General James Cole have been invited to testify. "It is important, especially at a time of budget constraints, to determine whether it is the best use of federal resources to prosecute the personal or medicinal use of marijuana in states that have made such consumption legal," Leahy says in a statement from his office. "I believe that these state laws should be respected. At a minimum, there should be guidance about enforcement from the federal government." Keef crumbs A press release from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition says the Drug Enforcement Administration has begun pressuring armored-car services not to work with the mostly all-cash medical-marijuana industries in Colorado and California. Denver's City Council voted last week to tax recreational-marijuana sales. "Chief financial officer Cary Kennedy said the 3.5 percent tax is expected to bring in $3.4 million a year to pay for regulation, enforcement and education around the new industry," reported the Denver Post. After CNN's good doctor recently came out in support of MMJ, Boulder's Helping Hands Herbals unveiled a new strain: Sanjay Gupta Kush, an indica. The Denver Post wrote Friday that "oversight of doctors who write pot recommendations is lax and inconsistent." See tiny.cc/postMD for more. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom