Pubdate: Wed, 04 Nov 2015
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2015 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Griffin Swartzell

STARK PULLS OUT OF A64, WILL HELP OTHER STATES

Buffalo soldiers on

Not two weeks after Studio A64 was named the best cannabis club in 
Colorado Springs by Indy readers, founder KC Stark has sold his share 
in the operation.

"The cannabis club really was an experiment to see if we could create 
the impossible in the heart of Colorado Springs," he says. "I built 
that thing like a battleship, and it's time to turn her into a luxury 
cruise liner." To that end, he is stepping down to make space for new 
leadership in the form of Ambur Rose. She's a Springs native who 
recently concluded 19 years in the restaurant business by ending a 
year-long stint as a server at The Warehouse.

"I have always been an entrepreneur, seeking opportunities and trying 
new things," Rose says. "I was in real estate, life insurance and 
tried several 'pyramid' businesses, [none of] which kept my attention 
for very long." Rose is also a zumba fitness instructor and former 
owner of The Fitness Factory. But she says that restaurants were 
always a comfortable gig for her.

When I first met Rose, she had already started spearheading Studio 
A64's transition from smoothies to mocktails, whipping up a virgin 
blackberry mojito she soon dubbed "Purple Haze." That's just the 
beginning of Rose's drive for a new and vibrant Studio. She plans on 
expanding the drink selections, including CBD-infused beverages. Rose 
also will oversee introduction of a broad food selection from cakes 
to pies to ice cream sundaes - "just things that we don't have to 
prepare in a commercial-type kitchen."

With her fitness background, Rose has an ear for health and wellness 
concerns and considerations. To that end, Studio A64 will be adding a 
lot more educational material, including seminars on the spectrum of 
benefits and opportunities marijuana can provide. She's also planning 
to expand the merch selection, though details are still in the works.

"I have already removed a lot of things, changed a lot of things 
around, taken things out and given it a very, very thorough deep 
cleaning," Rose says.

She joins current owners Capt. Abner "Voodoo" Marrero and Janine Lee 
Choung, who have operated the Studio with Stark for the past two 
years. On top of everything else, the Studio is also expanding its 
hours, opening from 10 a.m. until midnight Tuesday through Saturday.

As for Stark, he's hitting the road to bring the word of weed to 
states that have yet to legalize.

"I'm going to take what we learned in Colorado and try to help the 
other states with legalization," he says. In the next three months, 
he says he's due in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. He'll carry with 
him the same spirit that anchored marijuana in downtown Colorado 
Springs. As he said back in 2013, "I'm not here to beg for your 
acceptance - I demand it."

Same to you, buddy

The Federal Reserve has adopted a more hard-line stance against 
allowing marijuana money into the banking system. Earlier this year, 
cannabis-focused Fourth Corner Credit Union was denied a master 
account by the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve (see 
CannaBiz, Aug. 5). A master account, according to federalreserve.gov, 
"is both a record of financial transactions that reflects the 
financial rights and obligations of an account holder and of the 
Reserve Bank with respect to each other, and the place where opening 
and closing balances are determined." All banks need a master account 
at the nearest Fed branch; without one, Fourth Corner can't open and 
the marijuana industry stays largely cash-only.

In response, Fourth Corner sued the Fed, and according to a Denver 
Post report Oct. 22, the Fed has filed a motion asking the U.S. 
District Court in Denver to throw out the suit. The motion rests on 
the fact that marijuana is still federally illegal.

To quote the text directly, "The court would not entertain other such 
attempts - such as if Colorado enacted a scheme to allow trade in 
endangered species or trade with North Korea in derogation of federal 
laws, and then chartered a credit union to handle the finances for 
companies conducting such illegal trade."

Should Fourth Corner's suit succeed, this would be a major step 
toward marijuana businesses being able to operate like any other kind 
of business.

A show of inertia

City Council certainly has a sense of dramatic tension with its 
medical marijuana moratorium ordinance. To recap, the Council is 
considering a six-month stop to all new land-use permits for medical 
marijuana businesses, from cultivation facilities to dispensaries to 
the businesses that make edibles and infusions.

But it will be another two weeks before the Council makes any 
decision on the matter, after passing an amendment to the ordinance 
that will allow any existing business to expand, mandate a task force 
and allow for "hardship exemptions." As a result, the reading on Oct. 
27 was a first reading, and the Council will have to read it again 
before voting at its next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom