Ah, trick or treating. Remember when your parents let you eat any unwrapped treat you were handed by strangers?

If you're under 30, probably not. Parents have long been wary that unpackaged treats could contain razor blades. Or shards of glass. Or anthrax.

But this Halloween, Colorado kids are facing a new threat, according to numerous national headlines: candy laced with marijuana.

Several major news outlets (including Fox and CBS) recently claimed that Colorado-based CB Scientific designed a product for parents to test Halloween candy for marijuana.

[continues 784 words]

Tres THC hombres

Bijou Wellness Center is a local old-timer, having appeared in our first issue of ReLeaf in April 2010. But new ownership has brought change and a new name: BWC is now Three Buds Wellness Center (2132 E. Bijou St., 465-2407). The move comes after former Maggie's Farm employee Reed Mason and two friends bought the business in June.

Mason says they're still working out the kinks, so there's not a ton of innovation yet, but you can find one unique product for sale: "We do old-time hash," the owner says. "Nobody else really does it in town.

[continues 336 words]

Advanced Cannabis Solutions Buys Former Bank Building in S. Denver With High Hopes.

A Colorado Springs company that leases property to marijuana growers has acquired a former bank building in south Denver with plans to turn it into the industry's first business incubator.

And if a consortium of marijuana businessmen cobble together the state's first cooperative financial institution, then Advanced Cannabis Solutions hopes to have its first location.

"The idea is for the incubator space on the second floor, but if there's a banking opportunity, that would be explored," CEO Robert Frichtel said. "It's an ample amount of space to do many things."

[continues 341 words]

There ought to be a law. No company should be allowed to buy children's candy in bulk, spray it with viscous marijuana hash oil, and sell it as marijuana edibles.

Yet that is exactly what is happening.

At least one Colorado company, EdiPure, is buying up candies such as generically made gummy bears, sour rainbow belts and other hard candies and infusing them with pot, then repackaging the candies for sale at your local marijuana retail store. And they are making gobs of money at it.

[continues 844 words]

The Providers of the Pot Shop Units Were Warned of Federal Law.

Hundreds of ATMs located in medical marijuana dispensaries-the lifeblood of businesses otherwise forced to work in cash-were shut down Wednesday, just days after similar machines were unplugged from recreational shops.

The machines in Colorado and Washington were connected to a network served by South Dakota based Meta Bank, which in January warned ATM providers by email that machines located in marijuana shops violated federal banking rules.

But the machines, both cashless and the traditional cash-dispensing variety, continued to work until this week, according to owners of cannabis shops affected by the shutdown.

[continues 639 words]

It's a good sign federal inspectors quietly have been telling bankers they can continue working with marijuana-related clients, as long as those banks closely monitor that relationship.

The retail pot industry began in earnest in Colorado less than a year ago, and the banking problem has been a threatening issue. The risk dissipated slightly in February when the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued guidelines for banks.

Though some banks may be getting passive approval, the industry continues to be "underbanked," said Andrew Freedman, the state's director of marijuana coordination. So the problem persists.

Real change must come from Congress. A bill by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden, seeking sensible banking reforms could bring meaningful and lasting resolution. But the bill is stuck in committee.

With more communities looking at legalization, this is an issue that needs Congress' help.

[end]

It seems hard to believe that many forms of edible marijuana are made to look like candy and treats that children often eat, yet the public is supposed to believe that the marijuana industry isn't marketing to the youth. It has been reported that nine children have been treated at local hospitals after ingesting marijuana edibles. Further, one college student jumped off of a balcony after eating a cookie that contained marijuana. Now, parents are being warned more than ever before to check their children's Halloween The Growing Kitchen candy, suggesting in Boulder.

[continues 189 words]

It would be really refreshing to see the marijuana industry take a proactive approach to dealing with the social issues and unintended consequences legalization brings. If adults choose to use edible marijuana (or any other form, for that matter), it is their responsibility to protect children from it. However, kids will be kids and they will be tempted to eat something that looks like a gummy bear or a cookie. The marijuana industry should not worry about what they are legally expected to do, but should be at the forefront of creating packaging that is as childproof as possible. Do we have to drag the marijuana industry kicking and screaming to the table like we did with the tobacco and alcohol industries? It's about our children, for crying out loud!

John Barnholt, Denver

[end]

Working in the weed industry sounds awesome, in theory. Maybe you could be the next marijuana millionaire.

Or at least get lots of free samples.

But cannabis professionals say their days are consumed by endless data-entry, software malfunctions and anxiety. "This industry has been regulated into absurdity," says Read Spear, author of Marijuana Cultivation Reconsidered and consultant to cannabis entrepreneurs. "It's like you're handling nuclear material."

Spear disputes the assumption that everyone in the industry is rolling in profits. The margins have shrunk, he says, because of the taxes and fees.

[continues 823 words]

Dear Stoner: I saw they are getting rid of the red card for a new, smaller card. What's up with that?

Blue Over Red

Dear Blue: It's true. After nearly fifteen years of listening to patients gripe about the hassle of cumbersome paper "red cards," the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has begun issuing credit-card-sized medical marijuana cards. The new design will "significantly reduce" the need for replacements, according to the CDPHE. Complete with a Colorado-seal hologram, the new cards are a welcome change that brings us up to the mid-1990s in ID-card technology.

[continues 321 words]

State tightens up

On the heels of a USA Today/Suffolk University poll of Coloradans that showed 49 percent disagree with the way the state has handled marijuana regulations come two efforts to curb access.

News of the first development broke Monday, with the Associated Press reporting that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment had issued a recommendation to state marijuana regulators that all edibles be banned from store shelves except isolated products like lozenges and select liquids. The Denver Police Department recently issued a warning to parents regarding marijuana edibles that look like Halloween candy, and this follows similar reasoning about harm to children.

[continues 357 words]

Industry Watchers Are Hoping for a Wholesale Reversal of a Stance Against Marijuana Accounts.

The strained relationship between federal banking regulators and Colorado banks wanting to work with legal-marijuana businesses is easing, the first tangible sign of what many industry watchers hope is a wholesale reversal of a hard-nosed stance against the banking relationship.

Inspectors from federal oversight agencies quietly have told bankers during recent regulatory examinations that they could continue working with pot-related clients as long as the banks closely monitor that relationship, according to interviews with bank attorneys and other industry insiders.

[continues 752 words]

Hearing Shows Disagreement on How to Best Manage Marijuana in State

Colorado's health department proposed an industry-spinning ban on the sales of nearly all forms of edible marijuana at recreational pot shops Monday but then quickly backed away from the plan amid an industry outcry and questions over legality.

After a heated, four-hour hearing, the public policy Tilt-A-Whirl ride ended where it began: with lawmakers, regulators and stakeholders still in disagreement - now more than 10 months after the start of recreational pot sales - on the best way to manage marijuana in Colorado.

[continues 622 words]

DENVER (AP) - Colorado has seen feisty debates this fall, with candidates in close races for governor, Senate and the U.S. House arguing over abortion rights, energy policy and the death penalty. Just don't expect any of them to talk much about the biggest news of the year: legal pot.

While the state's 10month-old marijuana retail experiment has received worldwide attention and sales of recreational and medical pot have generated more than $45 million for state coffers, most voters have collectively shrugged. Predictions that they would go scrambling back to the polls to repeal the legal-pot law they passed in 2012 haven't yet materialized.

[continues 371 words]

The small Colorado Springs-based producer of marijuana edibles, sued in June by candy giant The Hershey Company for allegedly breaching a number of design and name patents, quietly settled the dispute.

In a settlement penned in late September, TinctureBelle agreed to recall and destroy all edibles it sold that looked like the famed chocolate company's products, or with names that played on their brands.

Although the edibles company said it had stopped making products that appeared like those produced byHershey-including well-known names such as Reese's, Almond Joy andHeath-long before the federal lawsuitwas filed in June inU.S. District Court in Denver, the settlement makes sure it won't happen again.

[continues 121 words]

Dear Stoner: Is it legal to sell my old bong on Craigslist?

Broke Glass

Dear Broke: This was a head-scratcher. Though we figured the answer was yes, considering you can buy things like used underwear on Craigslist, we weren't sure if there were laws that prohibit selling a used cannabis pipe, as there are laws against selling actual cannabis. Local cannabis-centric attorney Warren Edson cleared it up for us, though, saying it's legal under all state laws, because marijuana paraphernalia is legal to buy, possess and use. If you want to be uber-paranoid about it, though, make sure your pipe is clean of any resin before you sell it (of course, you should be doing that anyway, out of courtesy). But keep it in Colorado: Shipping that bong over state lines would be a major no-no and could land you federal charges, since Uncle Sam considers your bong illegal and more of a danger to society than, say, automatic weapons.

[continues 255 words]

Next time you read or watch a news story about a survey or poll, stop reading or turn it off. It doesn't mean anything. It won't help you understand anything. You're better off watching videos of parkouring goats or hawks knocking drones out of the sky.

Polls, which are surveys of public opinion taken from a select sample, have become staples of newspaper, television and online news. We're inundated by them. Each is subject to its own methodology, bias and interpretation, and I'll grant that they can offer simple snapshots into peoples' beliefs or positions at a given time. Today they are much more than that, with hundreds of polls conducted daily on nearly every subject.

[continues 829 words]

Meet the purple card

Despite how much you probably love the oversized paper red card denoting your participation in the Colorado medical-marijuana program - - you know, the one that doesn't really fit on your person or resist any kind of damage and actually says "Void if laminated" - its days are numbered. A smaller, credit-card-sized version is now in circulation via a largely unpublicized change made effective Aug. 15, says the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The new version features a purple base fading up into a mountainscape. Users who've received it tell the Indy that, while it's an upgrade, the writing is still easily scratched off. Comments online also reflect dissatisfaction with its girth, with one Redditor writing, "I mean I've had [B]lockbuster cards with more thickness than this thing. But it is plastic none the less. And should be somewhat easier to take care of."

[continues 330 words]

Proposed restrictions on amateur hash oil production cleared a Denver City Council committee Tuesday after changes were made to accommodate alcohol-based extraction.

The measure, aimed at preventing home explosions, would ban the use of butane or other gases in extractions of oil from marijuana, except by licensed businesses that take precautions. Amateurs who make hash oil at home still could use safer water- and food-based methods.

Responding to concerns expressed last month, including by a father who makes cannabis oil to treat his daughter's severe epilepsy, the Safety and Well-Being Committee added the exemption for alcohol- and ethanol-based extractions.

[continues 94 words]

Colorado and Washington state knew they were jumping into the unknown when voters legalized recreational marijuana two years ago. They just didn't know the half of it. But thanks to what we've learned from the two pioneering states, it is now easier for those that follow to separate hype from hemp.

Voters in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., where legalization plans are on the November ballot, should be skeptical, for example, of promises about the revenue the government will get from pot taxes. Residents might also ask for more specifics on how edibles will be regulated.

[continues 312 words]