Pubdate: Wed, 03 Dec 2014
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2014 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Bryce Crawford

BOARD TO DEBATE CANNABIS-CLUB BAN, REALITY TV COMES FOR CANNABIS, AND MORE

Board to vote on clubs

On Thursday, El Paso County's Board of County Commissioners will 
consider a resolution that would extend the temporary moratorium on 
cannabis social clubs in the county. These are the businesses 
operating in a legal gray area, taking advantage of the fact that 
users can partake of the drug in a private area. Some accept 
"donations" in lieu of payment for marijuana dispensed on site, while 
others mandate you bring it yourself.

The measure sounds like a setback for supporters, but it's actually 
the lesser of two evils; commissioners considered banning the clubs 
outright at a previous meeting. They continued the moratorium with 
the support of Commissioners Peggy Littleton, Darryl Glenn and Dennis Hisey.

There are no clubs currently operating in the unincorporated areas of 
the county (those affected by the board), but that hasn't stopped 
Studio A64 owner KC Stark from protesting the county's potential 
actions. (By way of background, the city of Colorado Springs tried 
earlier this year to kill Stark's downtown club. A majority of City 
Council backed its continued existence.)

"The original cannabis club will not let liberty die in the name of 
reefer madness," Stark says in an email. "This is a violation of our 
Colorado constitutional rights under [Amendment 20/Amendment 64]; as 
well as a ... dire affront to all the principles our founding fathers 
(and mothers) lived and died for."

Watch it grow

Reality TV continues to come for Colorado cannabis, with two shows 
focused on the state's industry.

The first, from MSNBC, debuted over Thanksgiving weekend. Pot Barons 
of Colorado is a six-part series airing Sundays at 8 p.m. MST 
focusing on Denver-based people like Jamie Perino, owner of Euflora, 
and Medicine Man's Andy Williams. "The series takes viewers deep 
inside this budding industry filled with financial opportunity, but 
also fraught with danger," says the network. "Another branch of the 
industry looked at in the series is edibles."

And from CNN comes High Profits, an eight-part series debuting 
sometime in 2015 that focuses on the couple who own Breckenridge 
Cannabis Club. "The BCC has grown from a $515,000 per year medical 
marijuana dispensary with four employees," says CNN in a release, "to 
a $5,000,000 per year business of 30 employees."

Crime out, cash in

The United States' legal marijuana is hurting Mexican cartels, NPR 
reported Monday. Here's Nabor, a 24-year-old grower in Sinaloa: "Two 
or three years ago, a kilogram of marijuana was worth $60 to $90," he 
says. "But now they're paying us $30 to $40 a kilo. It's a big 
difference. If the U.S. continues to legalize pot, they'll run us 
into the ground." Hear more at tiny.cc/96l7px.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom