Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jan 2014
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Nicholas Riccardi

COLORADO'S POT FEVER COOLS A BIT

DENVER (AP) -The second day of the nation's first fully legal 
marijuana industry was just a bit less frenzied than the first. 
Rather than hundred-deep lines outside the limited number of licensed 
retail shops, the queues held several dozen.

Still, there were so many pot shoppers that one retailer asked 
customers to come back today. Here's a look at the new normal in Colorado:

HOW MUCH FOR AN EIGHTH?:

Colorado has no statewide pricing structure, and by midafternoon on 
the first day, one dispensary was charging $70 for one-eighth of an 
ounce of high-quality pot. Medical marijuana patients, who worried 
about being priced out of the market, just a day earlier paid as 
little as $25 for the same amount.

LAW ENFORCERS WATCHING:

Authorities are watching whether consumers take marijuana to other 
states where the drug remains illegal. It's too soon to tell if 
that's happened yet but some law enforcement officials say it's 
inevitable. Neighboring Kansas, for example, plans to continue its 
use of bogus road signs such as "Drug Check Ahead" and "Drug Dogs in 
Use" along highways to make motorists think twice about bringing 
drugs on the state's highways.

HOW MUCH MONEY FOR STATE?:

Retail marijuana is being heavily taxed, with a 10 percent tax per 
sale and a 15 percent excise tax based on the average market rate of 
the drug. The state won't have the first round of receipts until late 
February but it seems clear demand is strong. A trade group Thursday 
said three of its retail members reported between 600 and 800 
customers during the first day. Colorado has projected $67 million in 
annual marijuana tax revenue.

NOT JUST POT:

The same 2012 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana in 
Colorado also permitted industrial hemp farming. The Colorado 
Department of Agriculture on Thursday released procedures for 
producers to register with the state and pay fees. Hemp is 
marijuana's non-intoxicating cousin. It can be used in foods, 
cosmetics and textiles. It remains illegal to grow under federal law.

WHERENEXT?:

Washington state voters also legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 
and that state's market is due to open in a few months. Activists in 
Oregon and Alaska say they have enough signatures to put legalization 
measures on the ballot this year.

Ballot measures may well crop up in other states from California to 
Massachusetts over the next few election cycles.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom