It's time for Colorado to have a frank discussion about marijuana potency. In recent years, Colorado's marijuana has become a fundamentally different and harder drug, with unprecedented levels of THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient. Nationally, the potency of marijuana has more than tripled since the mid-1990s, with the average at 12.6 percent THC in 2013, according to the National Drug Control Strategy. But Colorado's post-legalization pot has reached even higher levels. Here, the average potency of marijuana flowers/buds is 17.1 percent THC and the average potency of concentrates is 62.1 percent THC, according to the Marijuana Equivalency in Portion and Dosage report, prepared for the Colorado Department of Revenue. [continues 510 words]
Since 55 percent of Colorado voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, Colorado has experienced record economic growth, record tourism, and record job creation. In addition, Denver was recently named the best city to live in the United States by U.S. News and World Report based on factors such as quality of life, low crime rate, and job prospects. The doomsday predictions of the prohibitionists never came to pass. Colorado is experiencing near record low traffic fatalities, and teen marijuana usage has remained relatively stagnant. [continues 496 words]
But the Effort Will Have Additional Opportunities This Legislative Session. Colorado lawmakers have rejected an initial effort to cap the potency of marijuana that customers can buy at recreational pot stores. Rep. Kathleen Conti, R-Littleton, had proposed barring stores from selling marijuana and marijuana products - including concentrates - that contain more than 15 percent THC. That amount is below the average potency of products currently sold in recreational stores. Late Wednesday, lawmakers on the House Finance Committee voted down the proposal on a 6-5 vote. But that decision may not be the end of the debate - for this year or for next. [continues 289 words]
Things Looked Bleak When Oil Prices Dropped DeBEQUE, Colo. - When the oil and gas industry tanked and plans for gambling fizzled out, this conservative town of ranchers and roughnecks found salvation in an unlikely place. Weed. "We are going to survive by it," said Darrel Kuhn, who owns the local liquor store, "because we sure as hell can't survive without it." Hemay be right. Colorado's billion-dollar marijuana industry has boosted the economies of many struggling towns. Empire, Trinidad and Parachute have all benefited from infusions of pot money. [continues 692 words]
PUEBLO, Colo. - In the heart of territory run by the gang Los Carnales East Side Dukes - on a corner known as the Devil's Triangle - - a 14-year-old who describes himself as a "baby gangster" explained why he was trying to escape the crew. "I really didn't want to end up six feet under," said Esai Torres, who joined the Dukes at 12, beating up rivals and following in the footsteps of his father, a leader on the streets. [continues 1159 words]
This is in regard to the editorial, "Stop overdose deaths" that ran in The Pueblo Chieftain on March 29. Thanks for drawing attention to the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. It is absolutely crucial that Coloradans are able to obtain this lifesaving medication conveniently at pharmacies and community distribution programs throughout the state. These efforts have gained traction in recent years, but there's more work to do. In cases of overdoses on opioids like prescription painkillers or heroin, the victim's breathing dangerously slows or stops. If they have naloxone on hand, peers, friends or loved ones who already are on the scene can be the most effective first responders. [continues 178 words]
What is the cost of our indifference toward heroin use? Well, even though you may not be one, and all of your family and friends are not addicted, you may still die from this problem. Follow the heroin addict and you will often find that he or she has shared his or her needle with someone else. You may think, "So what?" That needle has just spread AIDS to another person. "AIDS. I am not gay." Follow the addict a little further. Now that this person has AIDS that person is more susceptible to new drug resistant diseases such as tuberculosis. This person circulates among us. Just one example of a problem you may not have known existed. [continues 65 words]
Dear Stoner: I'm sick with a sore throat and can't smoke, but I have a hard time eating without cannabis. I also don't like most of the sweet edibles out there. Anything I can do? Hazel Dear Hazel: At least you have the no-smoking part down: Too many people are either careless or blind to what smoking can do to their throat and immune system when they have a cold or the flu. But not being able to eat can make you feel just as dreadful, and you can't beat an illness on an empty stomach. If brownies won't do it for you in the morning, look for pot-infused granola, muffins and other breakfast foods - they're definitely out there. Another option could be tinctures, which come in liquid form and are dropped under your tongue. Although tinctures don't last as long, they kick in quickly and will jump-start your appetite. [continues 330 words]
Colorado Springs residents who voted for Amendment 64 were understandably disappointed to watch City Council opt out (as was permitted) a year later. That disappointment morphed into indignation as city officials repeatedly and methodically tightened marijuana regulations up to the brink of what's permitted by state constitutional amendments. Now that indignation is manifesting as activism aimed at aligning city policy more closely with what most citizens want. "I'll be honest, a month ago if you had asked me who the mayor was, I didn't know," says Anthony Robinson, aka Zip Floppyjoints, owner of the My Club 420 cannabis club. "But I've woken up." [continues 537 words]
DENVER - One of Colorado's top marijuana businesses wants to keep the "high" in the Denver Broncos' Mile High Stadium. Native Roots, which operates 14 medical and recreational dispensaries in Colorado, is prepared to make an offer for the naming rights of the NFL team's stadium, now called Sports Authority Field at Mile High. "We may breathe green but we bleed orange," said Josh Ginsberg, CEO of Native Roots, in a press release. "Just like John Denver so memorably sang in 'Rocky Mountain High,' it only makes sense that the company which gains the new naming rights of Mile High be reflective of Colorado." [continues 356 words]
DeBEQUE, Colo. - When the oil and gas industry tanked and plans for gambling crapped out, this conservative town of ranchers and roughnecks found salvation in an unlikely place. Weed. "We are going to survive by it," said Darrel Kuhn, who owns the local liquor store, "because we sure as hell can't survive without it." He may be right. Colorado's billion-dollar marijuana industry has boosted the economies of many struggling towns. Empire, Trinidad and Parachute have all benefited from infusions of pot money. But DeBeque, on Colorado's Western Slope, owes its very existence to the cannabis trade. [continues 953 words]
Just north of the New Mexico state line, developers plan to turn Trinidad, Colo., center into a one-stop shop for pot tourism On the first day the state of Colorado allowed the sale of recreational marijuana, Chris Elkins waited two hours in the freezing cold to buy weed. "The line was down the stairwells, down the sidewalks, around the buildings, down the street," Elkins, who had traveled to Colorado from Arkansas for a long-planned ski trip, recalled about that New Year's Day in 2014. [continues 2107 words]
A veteran Denver police officer has resigned amid an internal investigation into allegations that he provided security services to a marijuana business. Officer Lewis Padilla, who joined the Denver Police Department in 1994, resigned Wednesday. "He resigned during an ongoing internal investigation," said Sonny Jackson, a department spokesman. An internal complaint was filed Oct. 2 regarding Padilla's alleged operation of a "business in violation of department policies and municipal ordinances." The complaint was filed after a Sept. 23 incident. A Denver detective inspecting a legal marijuana cultivation operation encountered two security guards who told the detective that they worked for Padilla, according to police investigative documents. [continues 68 words]
Dear Stoner: Why do dispensaries have shitty weed for $20 a gram and the really good stuff on sale sometimes? I got an eighth for $25 yesterday that was way better than the top-shelf stuff. Dear D.J.: Beauty is in the eye of the nug-holder. Maybe you didn't think whatever was on that shelf smelled great, but not everyone enjoys the same scents. My roommate hates the musty smells of OGs and the funk of UK Cheese, while I absolutely adore them. Hard to believe that a pothead doesn't like the smell of OGs, I know, but they're out there, man. [continues 328 words]
A marathon session at City Hall on March 22 featured Council dissenters of all stripes: those who pushed back against Councilor Andy Pico's resolution opposing refugee resettlement; those with a petition demanding repeal of the recently enacted Pedestrian Access Act; those who bemoaned the proposed land-swap deal with The Broadmoor; and finally, those pleading, once again, for Council to leave cannabis clubs unshuttered. None of that was resolved except for the club issue (but not in the way most urged). [continues 726 words]
Proposed Cap Could Send Users of Pot Back to the Black Market. A proposed ballot initiative and an amendment to a bill in the state House would cap the THC potency of recreational cannabis and marijuana products at a percentage below most of those products' current averages. The initiative would limit the potency of "marijuana and marijuana products" to 15 percent or 16 percent THC. The average potencies of Colorado pot products are already higher - 17.1 percent for cannabis flowers and 62.1 percent for marijuana extracts, according to a state study. [continues 356 words]
Re: "Waking up to opioid addiction," March 21 editorial (reprinted from The Washington Post). The editorial supporting the Centers for Disease Control's recommendations for a sensible approach to combat opioid addiction was welcome news. Most surprising, lawmakers were able to work across the aisle on what they agreed was a public health issue, rather than a "law enforcement matter." In 2010, in the early days of medical cannabis in Colorado, my wife and I started our small Colorado business and first began researching cannabis as a natural, non-addictive remedy. Colorado is ahead of the curve on this issue and I'm proud to be part of the industry that is at the forefront of finding alternative solutions. Ralph Morgan, Denver The writer is CEO of O.Pen VAPE. [end]
Denver No Longer Will Have Tests Done More than a year after Denver started actively policing the marijuana industry's use of pesticides, the city's health department is changing its enforcement procedures. Starting April 15, the Denver Department of Environmental Health will no longer test marijuana and pot products in a privately owned cannabis testing facility, the city wrote in an industry bulletin e- mailed Friday. Instead it will place marijuana products suspected of being contaminated with banned pesticides on hold, notify the state agencies that have picked up the recall process initially started by DEH and possibly order the plants or products to be destroyed, the bulletin said. [continues 378 words]
Re: "Pot laws stand; Court won't take case," March 22 news story. Had the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Nebraska and Oklahoma suing Colorado for a marijuana law they did not like, then the door would be open for any state to sue any other state for any law they did not like - such as abortion, gun control, and voting rights. States' rights would be a thing of the past. Bill Butler, Longmont [end]
HOTCHKISS, COLO. - This mountain town of coal miners and organic farmers wasted no time in saying no to marijuana. After Colorado's 2012 vote legalizing marijuana, local leaders concerned about crime and the character of their tranquil downtown twice voted to ban the recreational and medical pot shops springing up in other towns. But then coal crumbled. One mine here in the North Fork Valley has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. [continues 322 words]
As Colorado Coal Declines, Leaders Look to Pot Revenue HOTCHKISS, Colo. - This mountain town of coal miners and organic farmers wasted no time in saying no to marijuana. After Colorado's 2012 vote legalizing marijuana, local leaders concerned about crime and the character of their tranquil downtown twice voted to ban the recreational and medical pot shops springing up in other towns. But then coal crumbled. One mine here in the North Fork Valley has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. The closings added to a landscape of layoffs and economic woes concussing mining-dependent towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. And as Hotchkiss searches for a new economic lifeline, some people are asking: What about marijuana? [continues 604 words]
HOTCHKISS, Colo. - This mountain town of coal miners and organic farmers wasted no time in saying no to marijuana. After Colorado's 2012 vote legalizing marijuana, local leaders concerned about crime and the character of their tranquil downtown twice voted to ban the recreational and medical pot shops springing up in other towns. But then coal crumbled. One mine here in the North Fork Valley has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. The closings added to a landscape of layoffs and economic woes concussing mining-dependent towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. And as Hotchkiss searches for a new economic lifeline, some people are asking: What about marijuana? [continues 764 words]
Dear Stoner: Where can I find house rentals to cultivate marijuana with a landlord who will approve? Jeannette Dear Jeannette: It'd take some serious balls to ask if you can cultivate pot in the property owner's basement right before signing the lease - and those big balls would probably get your rental application ripped to pieces. Pot-friendly real-estate websites like potprop.com, weedrentals.com and 420mls.com all have listings of uninhibited homes for sale or rent, and some even list industrial warehouses and greenhouses for grows. As cool as the content is on these sites, though, you're probably best cutting out the middleman if you just want to rent an average home. My quick search using the term "marijuana" on Craigslist's Apartments/Housing Rentals section found a shitload of listings that explicitly said "No marijuana growing," but it also brought up a healthy number that advertised the landlord's acceptance of cultivation - but many of those landlords were charging quite a bit more per month than the rates for similar, more picky properties. [continues 265 words]
Of all the questions lingering over Colorado's burgeoning pot industry, perhaps none is weightier than who will control federal drug enforcement as of January 2017. How Americans vote on the top of the ticket in the November election could be make-or-break for the future of legal weed in the Centennial State. And of all the remaining candidates, only one appears a reliable ally to the legalization movement. (Don't bother sitting down, this will not be a shocker.) It's the democratic socialist from Vermont, Sen. Bernie Sanders. [continues 557 words]
Dear Stoner: What's the best container for pot? I see all these expensive jars but have yet to find anything that works better than my $2 Mason jar. Quail Dear Quail: For some sad reason, many potheads fail to see your wisdom. Maybe people just get bored with Mason jars and want to switch things up after staring at the same container for years, but I really don't get it. Smoke shops and dispensaries alike use fancy jars with "pop and seal" technology, or stackable plastic containers with nothing more than a screw top, and while they might look a little cooler than a boring Mason jar, they don't come close to keeping the air out as well. I've had $20 pop-and-seal jars that let my weed get dry just as fast as a pill bottle, and since then I've stayed true to my mini-sized Mason. Still, it's a lot of fun to walk into a home-goods store like Bed Bath & Beyond or the Container Store and casually say, "I'm looking for something to store my marijuana." Even if you just want Mason jars, it's worth the look on an employee's face. [continues 233 words]
On Tuesday, March 8, after a marathon public comment period, Colorado Springs City Council voted to ban cannabis clubs in the city by 2024. The 6-3 vote comes after years of deliberation over how to handle the clubs, which provide a social setting to consume legal cannabis. Though many in attendance testified that the clubs are a place of community, refuge and healing, detractors see the clubs' mere existence as flagrantly defying the previous Council's decision to opt out of recreational sales following statewide legalization. [continues 486 words]
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday cautioned other states about the economic impacts of legalizing marijuana. At a conference in Dallas on public-private partnerships-like the U. S 36 expansion and toll lanes - Hickenlooper was showing a slide dealing with the boom in the millennial population when he said: "You get all those young people who do certain things that some of us oppose and aren't crazy about, like legalizing marijuana. Let me tell you, if you're trying to encourage businesses to move to your state, some of the larger businesses, think twice about legalizing marijuana." [continues 118 words]
The following question was submitted last week, and answered when the Cannabis Cup was still looking at an April event in Pueblo. Earlier this week, it announced that it will instead hold the Cannabis Cup April 15-17 in Southern California. But we're leaving up our Stoner's answer, because it includes other information useful for marijuana tourists who'll be visiting the Front Range next month. Dear Stoner: I booked my hotel near the old Cannabis Cup venue. Will there be stoner buses going to Pueblo? I'm mad at High Times for moving it - two-hour drive, with cops! [continues 431 words]
High Times magazine's flagship event, the U. S. Cannabis Cup, is relocating from Colorado to California next month. Colorado's first-of-itskind marijuana laws allowed the event to grow into the largest High Times Cannabis Cup in the world, drawing up to 35,000 visitors each day in April 2015 at the Denver Mart in Adams County. But after Adams County commissioners last month rejected High Times' permit for this year's U. S. Cannabis Cup, organizers announced a tentative move to Pueblo-where the Cup ran into regulatory issues and concerns over timing. [continues 62 words]
As Colorado Springs city officials ponder the future of cannabis clubs, an argument that's often floated for doing away with them is that they make bad neighbors: Marijuana lures an undesirable crowd that causes a ruckus and disturbs the peace. Not so, says Phil McDonald, owner of the Springs Bikini Bar, which shares a wall with the Speakeasy Vape Lounge. Another club, The Lazy Lion, which was raided by federal agents late last month, is on the same block. McDonald, a former marshal with the Colorado Springs Police Department who's involved in local Republican politics, says that it took some prodding before he agreed to take over the bar on East Bijou Street from his sister and brother-in-law. His hands were already pretty full with four other local businesses and two young sons. But the biggest cause for pause was the bar's neighbor. [continues 988 words]
Letter-writer Barbara St. John asks: "If marijuana is bad for people, how can it be good for Colorado?" There's a lot to be said for how ending cannabis prohibition is good for Colorado. However, one of the distinguished reasons is Coloradans can hold our heads high and show the nation and the world we've decided to end an act of government-subsidized discrimination in a country where the prevalence of discrimination is undeniable. And make no mistake - bigots orchestrated cannabis prohibition from the beginning as an act of racism. That makes Colorado great. Stan White, Dillon [end]
Officials behind the High Times Cannabis Cup have told Pueblo County they are no longer interested in obtaining a special event permit for the popular pot festival, scheduled for April. In a statement released during the weekend, a representative for High Times didn't specify why the magazine chose to end its quest to locate the vast outdoor marijuana fair-the biggest of its kind in the world- in southern Colorado. The magazine said it respected "the need for all parties involved to have confidence in all operational aspects of the event" and that it looked forward to "hosting a future High Times event in Colorado." [continues 232 words]
Nebraska and Oklahoma Are Asking U. S. Justices to Overturn Legalization. The U. S. Supreme Court may be nearing a decision on whether to hear a case brought against Colorado by two neighboring states over marijuana legalization. Supreme Court justices were scheduled to meet privately Friday to discuss the case, which was filed in 2014 by the attorneys general in Nebraska and Oklahoma. The justices won't have decided at the meeting whether to upend legalization in Colorado, as the lawsuit requests. Instead, the justices must decide first whether even to take up the case. [continues 319 words]
Researcher Wants to Investigate Long- Term Use Among MS Patients. A Colorado State University researcher is launching a crowdfunding campaign to study the effects of long-term marijuana use among multiple sclerosis patients in northern Colorado. CSU is quick to point out that the research project will not involve providing cannabis or encouraging its use. The study will "simply examine existing users who have decided to treat their MS symptoms with medical marijuana and voluntarily agree to participate in the study," the university said. [continues 536 words]
Dear Stoner: Where can I find cannabis-friendly events around Denver? I have a business in cannabis and would like to host a smoke-friendly event, but I'm not sure where to look. Tarik Dear Tarik: Hosting a cannabis-friendly event in Colorado is pretty easy, but hosting a pot-smoking-friendly event? Not so much. For starters, any event at which you hope to allow pot smoking would have to take place at a private venue that is either outside or doesn't have to comply with the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act (a law that bans smoking at indoor venues unless otherwise permitted) - and there are very few of those. Even after finding a venue that fits your criteria, however, you'd have to apply to the local governing body for an event permit. That's not always easy; High Times was just denied such a permit by Adams County for its Cannabis Cup because of law enforcement concerns over attendance and public pot consumption. [continues 290 words]
Considered dangerous drugs by the federal government, marijuana and industrial hemp are still listed in the Controlled Substances Act as Schedule I drugs. While the federal government has issued legislative promises to not spend money in prosecution of cannabis activity in states in which it is legal, it has been firm in withholding any actions of endorsement by federal departments, leading many to assume that an organic certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is precluded by federal law. But on Jan. 27, 2016, CBDRx, a Colorado-based hemp company, announced that it received two USDA organic certifications for its more than 130 acres of industrial hemp, giving it two of only seven in the country and the only two in Colorado. [continues 741 words]
Clubs in jeopardy About 20 people marched from Studio A64 on Colorado Avenue to City Hall on the evening of Feb. 23 to protest City Council's proposed ban on cannabis clubs. Far more - about 150 - packed the chamber for an extended public comment hearing. Heather Witting, who has a background in medical marijuana and now works for a local club, elicited cheers when she calmly described the current situation in the Springs like the end of Prohibition. "These clubs are inevitable," she said. "I don't understand what you're afraid of." [continues 692 words]
Denver marijuana activists who hope to persuade city voters to legalize private pot clubs took the first step Monday by filing notice with the City Council. Before the November election, the activist group has indicated it will pursue a narrow scope. Its proposed ballot measure would allow for the opening of private, bring-your-own-cannabis clubs that could not serve alcohol or food and would allow entry to people 21 or older, as some smaller towns in Colorado have allowed. [continues 281 words]
It seems to be overlooked that 45 percent of Colorado voters did not want legalized "recreational" marijuana in their midst when the vote on Amendment 64 was taken in 2012. That is a large percentage and is probably greater now, since we have seen the problems in the schools and the unexpected problems with edibles. We have ubiquitous coverage of cannabis and the huge influx of the marijuana industry, and one could think it is a self-fulfilling prophecy from The Denver Post's articles. Remember that nearly half of us did not want it. And we still have the black market. If marijuana is bad for people, how can it be good for Colorado? Barbara St. John, Wheat Ridge [end]
With Pot Legal in Colorado, High Times Might Give Pause to Visiting Families From page 38 Chicago-based travel agent and mother of four Lynn Farrell represents a kind of worst-case scenario for Colorado's ski towns and resorts. JACK AFFLECK, VAIL RESORTS "Who really wants to ski where everybody is stoned?" asks Farrell, president of Windy City Travel. "It is a concern." It's the second full ski season since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana sales, and the cannabis culture - or at the very least, concerns about the cannabis culture - remains very much top of mind for many out-of-state visitors. Talk to East Coasters, particularly, and you hear worries about pot smokers lighting up in the lift lines or filling gondola cars with pungent smoke, an image at odds with Colorado's carefully crafted and otherwise well-deserved image as a clean-living destination for families. [continues 786 words]
For the fifth time in less than a week, state cannabis regulators have issued a health advisory and recall of marijuana over concerns it is contaminated with potentially dangerous pesticides not approved for use on the crop. Thursday's order by the Marijuana Enforcement Division involves 446 batches of recreational and medical marijuana grown at a Denver cannabis cultivation facility servicing two pot shops owned by Michelle Tucker: High Street Growers at 330 Federal Blvd. and Back to the Garden at 1755 S. Broadway. [continues 229 words]
DENVER (AP) - Colorado's tourists aren't just buying weed now that it's legal - they're ending up in emergency rooms at rates far higher than residents, a study said. Doctors reviewed marijuana-related emergency-room admissions at a hospital near Denver International Airport during 2014, when the sale of recreational pot became legal. The results were published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The physicians found that the rate of emergency-room visits possibly related to marijuana doubled among out-of-state residents in the first year of recreational pot sales. The rate went from 85 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 168 per 10,000 visits in 2014. [continues 242 words]
With Pot Legal in Colorado, the High Times Might Give Visiting Families Pause BRECKENRIDGE, COLO. - Chicago-based travel agent and mother of four Lynn Farrell represents a kind of worst-case scenario for Colorado's ski towns and resorts. "Who really wants to ski where everybody is stoned?" asks Farrell, president of Windy City Travel. "It is a concern." It's the second full ski season since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana sales, and the cannabis culture - or at the very least, concerns about the cannabis culture - remains very much top of mind for many out-of-state visitors. Talk to East Coasters, particularly, and you hear worries about pot smokers lighting up in the lift lines or filling gondola cars with pungent smoke, an image at odds with Colorado's carefully crafted and otherwise well-deserved image as a clean-living destination for families. [continues 782 words]
Dear Stoner: What is Thai stick? Is it just an old strain of chronic from the '70s? The Berg Dear Berg: Be ready to take notes if an old-timer ever tells you about the time he smoked a Thai stick, because it was probably crazier than any blunt you've ever had. Not to be confused with Thai or other mind-bending sativa strains that come from Southeast Asia, Thai sticks were like an early version of the caviar joints you find in dispensaries today. By taking some premium, seedless buds (which were virtually unheard of in North America in the '60s and '70s), skewering them on stems and tightly wrapping the natural doob with fibers from the marijuana plant - and then apparently dipping the sticks in opium - the Thai people created one trippy invention. [continues 321 words]
Colorado's tourists aren't just buying weed now that it's legal - they're ending up in emergency rooms at rates far higher than residents, according to a new study. Doctors reviewed marijuana-related emergency-room admissions at a hospital near Denver International Airport in 2014, when the sale of recreational pot became legal. The results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The physicians found that the rate of emergency-room visits possibly related to marijuana doubled among out-of-state residents in the first year of recreational pot sales. The rate went from 85 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 168 per 10,000 visits in 2014. [continues 86 words]
DENVER - Colorado's tourists aren't just buying weed now that it's legal - they're ending up in emergency rooms at rates far higher than residents, according to a new study. Doctors reviewed marijuana-related emergency-room admissions at a hospital near Denver International Airport during 2014, when the sale of recreational pot became legal. The results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The physicians found that the rate of emergency-room visits possibly related to marijuana doubled among out-ofstate residents in the first year of recreational pot sales. The rate went from 85 per 10,000 visits in 2013 to 168 per 10,000 visits in 2014. [continues 196 words]
You're in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal. You decide to indulge and eat a weed brownie. (First one since college!) Nothing seems to happen. You can still reel off the state capitals, hold a coherent conversation, and an entire bag of salt-and-vinegar potato chips doesn't sound particularly tasty. So you eat another brownie. And, waiting for something to happen, perhaps one more. And then - blam! Anxiety. Sweats. Panic. Heart palpations. And your Colorado vacation takes an unwelcome turn to the emergency room. [continues 771 words]
A Study Says the Rate Doubled From 2013 to 2014 but Locals' Visits Remained Steady. Visitors to Colorado are turning up at emergency rooms with marijuana-related issues in higher rates than people who live here, according to a study by the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The study, in the current New England Journal of Medicine, found the number of marijuana-related emergency room visits to the University of Colorado Hospital doubled among those from out of-state from 2013 to 2014, while remaining steady for residents. [continues 346 words]
NU Doctor Leads Research; Hospitals See More Tourists Marijuana-related emergency room visits in Colorado have increased at a higher rate for out-of-state guests than for residents since cannabis was legalized, according to a new study. The study, from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, looked at ER visits at more than 100 hospitals in Colorado in which there was a diagnosis of patients having used cannabis. Researchers compared the records from 2012, when the Colorado ballot measure passed to legalize marijuana, with 2014, when it was legally sold for recreational use. [continues 844 words]
Green cross-out Say goodbye to those green crosses hung outside medical marijuana centers in unincorporated El Paso County. According to the Board of County Commissioners, the ubiquitous signage was simply too confusing for clueless tourists. So early this month, they voted to ban them altogether. The fear, apparently, was that out-of-state tourists would confuse dispensaries for pharmacies, given that's what the signage means in Europe. Darryl Glenn proposed the resolution in January. "[They're] there but you don't even think about it," he said back then. "I believe it is important enough to potentially take action." [continues 485 words]
Inside Colorado
