Licensed and regulated marijuana stores in Colorado sold $ 996,184,788 of recreational and medical cannabis in 2015, according to the state Department of Revenue. "I think it's ethical to round that up to a billion," cannabis industry attorney Christian Sederberg said Tuesday upon first hearing the 2015 totals. Colorado recreational marijuana sales first started on Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado also collected more than $ 135 million in marijuana taxes and fees in 2015- more than $ 35 million of which is earmarked for school construction projects. Colorado released marijuana tax data for December 2015 on Tuesday, showing a major uptick in month-over-month sales. [end]
Just after Uncle Ike's Pot Shop opened in Seattle's Central District, it boasted in an ad, "Our weed cures Ebola." Knowing that merchants in the new industry weren't allowed to make any medical claims about pot, the fine print disclaimer winked: "If you believe this ad, you are a (expletive) moron." That in-your-face Vern Fonk-on-weed sensibility has helped make Uncle Ike's the state's top-selling pot store, with $1.4 million in monthly sales. [continues 1955 words]
A national Native American church that courts have allowed to possess and distribute peyote soon will open branches in three former Orange County pot shops where they plan to use and dispense marijuana and other illegal drugs as part of religious ceremonies. What's more, church members say almost anyone can join the religion and partake in its hallucinogenic sacraments, regardless of whether they have Native American heritage. Representatives from the Oklevueha Native American Church, which claims over 200 branches nationwide, said they recently signed leases in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and Westminster, targeting former marijuana dispensary storefronts where landlords don't mind having pot on the premises. [continues 460 words]
By a narrow 4-3 vote and with the mayor breaking the tie, the Unalaska City Council last week took its first step towards banning local sales and commercial growing, testing, and manufacturing of marijuana products. A local activist promised to put the issue on the ballot in the fall local election, and to oppose officials supporting a ban. Three seats are up for election this year -- two on the council now held by Roger Rowland and David Gregory, plus the mayor's. [continues 456 words]
Charlottetown Man Leading a Petition Against the Legalization of Marijuana. Mitch Reid of Charlottetown is saying no to legalizing marijuana as he feels this would lead more people down the path of drug use. "I'm concerned about the step after smoking weed. For some people, they may go down that path and may not get out of it." Reid has seen his fair share of Islanders struggling with addiction. Three years ago, he started a group through the Christian Reformed Church called Take the First Step to help spread the message of hope through Christ to those suffering from addiction and their families. [continues 282 words]
Mitch Reid may not be aware that he's actually supporting and enabling the devil law (Letter: Petition To Stop Marijuana Plans, Jan. 19, 2016); cannabis (marijuana) prohibition is the doctrine of demons. Cannabis prohibition separates people from receiving the "spirit of truth," which is available to those who "love one another," as described in John 14-16. You cannot love someone and cage him or her for using what God indicates He created and says is good on literally the very first page of the Bible, at the same time. Cannabis prohibition, persecution and discrimination are anti-Christian and clergy should be extra vigilant in protecting themselves from that public sin. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
Take The First Step, a group from the Christian Reformed Church on Mt. Edward Rd. is starting a petition against making pot legal. Take The First Step is trying to spread the message of hope through Christ, to those who are suffering from addiction, and to their families. We are 100 per cent against making pot legal. I know if you ask 10 people about this topic, you would get 10 answers - - all would not be the same. I have talked to a number of people over the last few years who suffer from addiction and the common thread through all their lives - it started with pot. Making it easier for young people to have access to it is bad news. Seventeen per cent will take on an addictive lifestyle. [continues 83 words]
Three of the Four Cases Filed Against Legal Pot Rely on Out-Of-State Funds, Support Three of the four marijuana-centered lawsuits filed against Colorado officials and businesses were organized and at least partially funded by out-of-state anti-drug organizations and socially conservative law firms, a Denver Post analysis shows. Only one lawsuit, filed by the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma, appears to be entirely homegrown. For those who oppose Colorado's marijuana laws, the out-of-state money offers a chance to fight back against what they characterize as a well-heeled marijuana lobby that changed public opinion with misleading messages. [continues 1666 words]
Regarding "Oklahoma, Nebraska AGs liken Colorado to 'drug cartel' over pot" (News, Jan. 7): As a Colorado resident who helped end cannabis prohibition, I strongly disagree with Oklahoma and Nebraska's claim likening Colorado to a "drug cartel." Oklahoma and Nebraska's desire to continue caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant is dependent on Colorado perpetuating the historically discredited "Reefer Madness" scam, dependent on punishing Colorado for not punishing its citizens for using a beneficial plant with a tantrum. In reality, citizens including Oklahoma's and Nebraska's own citizens liken cannabis prohibitionists as being anti-Christian, vulgar and just plain wrong. In the end, cannabis prohibition and discrimination will be history. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
Ryan Norris spent years trying to find help for his mental illness and addiction before dying of suspected fentanyl overdose Ryan Norris, described as a kind-hearted person and once promising athlete, spent his last days trying to get help for his addiction. His spirits lifted, his mother Christine says, when he heard a space had become available at the Sage Health Centre in Kamloops, one of several treatment centres where he was wait-listed. His bags were packed when, about a week before he died, he received a call that the space was no longer available. He became despondent, and left the house in what his mother believes was a search for heroin to ease his pain. [continues 992 words]
Silicon Valley Financiers Investing in Marijuana Apps, Services Venture Capitalists Get Behind Efforts to Legalize Recreational Pot Use Cannabis Startups Attracting Top Talent From Technology, Finance Sectors Henderson, Nev. - Isaac Dietrich was smoking marijuana at his best friend's college apartment a few years ago when an entrepreneurial vision burst forth as heady as the most potent strains of Head Cheese or Ghost Train Haze. "We had an epiphany," he said. "Grandma doesn't want to see me taking bong rips on Facebook. So we decided we needed a place where people could post about it." [continues 2383 words]
Whether or not re-legalizing cannabis will help Illinois' economy - which it most certainly will - is the wrong reason to end cannabis prohibition ("Make Cannabis Legal To Revitalize Illinois Economy, Dec. 29, 2015"). End cannabis/marijuana prohibition because it's the right thing to do. Caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant is anti-Christian, vulgar and one of North America's worst policy failures in history. Stan White, Dillon, Colorado [end]
SACRAMENTO (AP) - The governor of California pardoned Robert Downey Jr. on Thursday for a nearly 20-year-old felony drug conviction that led to the Oscar-nominated actor's imprisonment for roughly a year. Downey was among 91 people granted pardons for criminal convictions after demonstrating they had rehabilitated themselves and been out of custody for at least 10 years, Gov. Jerry Brown's office announced. The pardon does not erase records of a conviction but is a public proclamation that the person has remained out of trouble and demonstrated exemplary behavior, according to material on Brown's website. [continues 225 words]
Man Says in Lawsuit They Were Unlawfully Seized AZTEC - A local man is demanding the San Juan County Sheriff's Office reimburse him for dozens of marijuana plants seized from his property in a raid in May 2014. Gilbert Oldfield claims in a lawsuit filed in District Court on Dec. 1 that a sheriff's deputy unlawfully seized 43 marijuana plants last year from his residence on County Road 3950. The deputy, Nima Babadi, seized the marijuana plants, despite knowing Oldfield possessed a New Mexico marijuana grower's license, according to the complaint. [continues 409 words]
Legalisation of Dagga Claimed to Be the Economic Boost South Africa Sorely Needs THE flagging economy would get a multibillion-rand boost if dagga use were legalised, say proponents of such a move. The activists believe that taxing dagga would strengthen the economy and attract more tourists. But what they call "unnecessary legal red tape" is denying the country these benefits. Eighteen activists applied to the Cape Town High Court yesterday to have dagga use legalised. Montagu pig farmer Jeremy Acton, leader of the Dagga Party, is among the applicants. He wants sections of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act, and of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, declared unconstitutional. [continues 740 words]
Last week Donald Trump once again lied. This time he said he saw thousands of Muslims in Jersey City celebrating 9/11 - which is a flatout lie that many others are now repeating. Can you say revisionist Christian history? I remember soon after 9/11, watching the events from my Riverfront State Prison cell's cable TV and seeing Palestinians in Gaza and Egyptians cheering Osama bin Laden's revenge attacks. Nothing like that happened in the USA or it would've been on TV, on someone's camera, and in the press. Local police would've responded to this, and it could've been on the front pages of national newspapers.I'm a newsjunkie; allI do is read, listen to, and watch news. A couple newspapers at the time actually printed that Israelis were arrested in New Jersey celebrating, but I'm sure Trump doesn't remember this. It doesn't fit the reality he wants to believe: http:// tinyurl.com/whathappenedisraelis [continues 179 words]
Denver's marijuana regulators are asking the City Council to expand rules that would bar any new players from entering the state's largest market. For two years, a city moratorium aimed at controlling industry growth has allowed only existing medical marijuana businesses to open recreational dispensaries, grow houses or edible manufacturers. That's set to expire Jan. 1, a prospect that has had eager entrepreneurs and investors lining up. But new proposals submitted Tuesday by Denver's marijuana policy office would extend the moratorium two more years. And a newly proposed moratorium would bar any new applications for medical marijuana business licenses during the same period. [continues 577 words]
There can be no doubt that the daft war on drugs is devastating many of the world's poorest countries, from Africa to Latin America. But this has been ignored by major charities that claim to campaign for international development, presumably for fear of upsetting their donors. Now one has broken ranks, with the release of an important report from Christian Aid condemning what it calls "a blind spot in development thinking". Christian Aid deserves credit for taking a stand, one which has caused internal palpitations. The report itself highlights the hypocrisy of successive British governments that have poured money into aid yet supported the prohibition ripping apart poor communities. One day they will see that sanctimonious talk of saving the world is not a solution to complex problems. [continues 474 words]
What a long, strange trip it's become, even though it's just been a little more than a month. Boulder City Council decided to take a look at its cannabis regulations, and the first of three readings took place Sept. 30. For the most part, municipalities and counties in Colorado that allow cannabis sales adopted the state regulations written after the passage of Amendment 64. For whatever reasons, the City of Boulder came up with its own complex set of rules, which often differ from the state's. Confusion over the differences was at least one reason to prompt the reconsideration. [continues 738 words]
Regarding Heather Mac Donald's "Obama's Tragic Let 'em Out Fantasy" (op-ed, Oct. 24): Respectfully, Ms. Mac Donald would do well to spend time in a real federal courtroom to observe the ridiculously low amount of drugs that needs to be trafficked for an offender to earn a long prison sentence. Our office, located in a state with the nation's highest rate of drug-overdose deaths, routinely represents drug addicts charged with distributing as few as two or three prescription pain pills to other addicts who happen to be cooperating with local law enforcement agencies. Such defendants are hardly the serious drug traffickers Ms. Mac Donald suggests fill federal prisons. [continues 195 words]
