Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jan 2014 Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO) Copyright: 2014 Colorado Springs Independent Contact: http://www.csindy.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536 Author: Bryce Crawford Column: CannaBiz MILLIONS IN SALES FROM GREEN WEDNESDAY, AIRPORT POT BANS AND MORE A day (un)like any other So Jan. 1 has come and gone, and we've all grown used to the armored Drug Enforcement agents on every corner imposing the martial law that Comrade Obama ordered into effect after the advent of Doobie-geddon. OK, that didn't happen. Actually, the day really brought nothing more remarkable than the fact that dispensaries across the state sold a ton of weed - around $1 million worth per day, said a few reports, and that's with only a relative handful of shops open. As of Monday, a call to the Denver Kush Club revealed that lines were still out the door, though waits were down from multiple hours to around 30 minutes, while prices have increased everywhere: At DKC, for instance, an eighth is back to 2010 prices of around $60. (And that's without the state's special sales tax, the state's regular sales tax and Denver's sales tax.) Others were said to have sold out of stock completely. CNN reports that Colorado seems to be just the beginning, with Alaska, Oregon, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana and Nevada all expected to run recreational-marijuana ballot issues in 2016, in part because of successes in these parts. Meanwhile, "thinly traded and volatile" marijuana stocks rose in the days following legalization, FOX Business reported; the Denver Post said Monday that High Times magazine would create a $100 million private-equity fund to invest $2 million to $5 million at a time in Colorado marijuana; and the Wyoming Highway Patrol issued this all-caps statement last Thursday: "DO NOT BRING YOUR COLORADO PURCHASED MARIJUANA INTO WYOMING." Of course, some people seemed to feel a little used by the party side of Colorado's cannabis industry. "Hug a Patient in Colorado on Jan. 1," read one image on a Facebook page. "All the marijuana sold by Retail Marijuana Stores on January 1 will have been provided courtesy of Colorado's 100,000+ registered medical marijuana patients." This is because stores converted over some existing medical supply, grown on behalf of member patients, since growing recreational pot wasn't legal until this year. Keef crumbs In response to all of the above, the city officials that run Denver International Airport prohibited possession of marijuana. Violators may be fined up to $999. KRDO reported that Colorado Springs Airport still allows the plant. A great Sunday Denver Post story (tiny.cc/dpcash) pointed out the hypocrisy in banks like JP Morgan Chase happily holding the state's tax revenues derived from marijuana sales, while remaining reticent to serve the industry itself. On a side note: Monday, Denver City Council issued a proclamation "urging swift federal action to provide guidance for banking." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt