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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom