The Coffee Joint, the first establishment to hold a cannabis consumption license in Denver, is now the second pot lounge business to apply for a state social consumption license. Colorado Springs social lounge Studio A64 successfully applied for a social consumption license at the state Marijuana Enforcement Division office three hours before Coffee Joint owners Rita Tsalyuk and Kirill Merkulov could beat them to it. Studio A64 could not be reached for comment, but Tsalyuk and Merkulov say the opportunity to apply for a state license is a big step for all cannabis businesses. "This is bigger than us. It's just a bigger step in the industry," Tsalyuk explains. "It opens the door to do something different and plan ahead for the next year." [continues 345 words]
A group of Colorado researchers recently studied how cannabis use affects athletes and found a possible role between the plant and pain management. The study, "Cannabis use in active athletes: Behaviors related to subjective effects," looked at cannabis use patterns and its effects in a community-based sample of adult athletes. According to the study's authors, there had been no previous academic research done on cannabis use's subjective effects for adult athletes. "There was not a lot of research on how weed helps," explains Dr. Joanna Zeiger, one of the researchers who conducted the study for Canna Research Group. "Athletes typically don't sleep well and are anxious, so we wanted to see what percentage of them use cannabis, their patterns of use, and what the effects are." [continues 429 words]
DENVER - Serenity Christensen, 14, is too young to set foot in one of Colorado's many marijuana shops, but she was able to spot a business opportunity in legal weed. She is a Girl Scout, and this year, she and her mother decided to sell their cookies outside a dispensary. "Good business," Serenity said. But on the other side of Denver, legalization has turned another high school student, David Perez, against the warehouselike marijuana cultivations now clustered around his neighborhood. He said their skunky aroma often smacks him in the face when he walks out his front door. [continues 2319 words]
Voters in Denver, a city at the forefront of the widening national debate over legalizing marijuana, have become the first in the nation to effectively decriminalize another recreational drug: hallucinogenic mushrooms. The local ballot measure did not quite legalize the mushrooms that contain psilocybin, a naturally occurring psychedelic compound. State and federal regulations would have to change to accomplish that. But the measure made the possession, use or cultivation of the mushrooms by people aged 21 or older the lowest-priority crime for law enforcement in the city of Denver and Denver County. Arrests and prosecutions, already fairly rare, would all but disappear. [continues 634 words]
LAFAYETTE, Colo. - The political rise of Colorado's cannabis industry is, in essence, the story of Garrett Hause's alfalfa farm. Mr. Hause, a broad-shouldered, 25-year-old horticulturist who tills his family's land in the shadow of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, said he was never particularly interested in politics - that is, until voters legalized cannabis in 2012. He started familiarizing himself with the stringent state regulations that govern the industry. He and a friend then created Elation Cannabis Company, which uses a section of the family's soil to grow hemp. [continues 1295 words]
It's a common stereotype that people who smoke weed are a bit foggy-headed and missing a few brain cells. But a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that alcohol is much more damaging to your brain than marijuana. In fact, the study - which was published in the journal Addiction - suggests that weed use doesn't seem to alter the structure of a person's brain at all. Kent Hutchison, a co-author of the study, told Medical News Today that he wanted to examine what effect pot has on a person's brain because there isn't a conclusive answer to the question. [continues 364 words]
Colorado's edible pot industry goes from public enemy to public-health leader, and wants Canada to take note BOULDER, Colorado - A tray of tempting pastel-coloured candies sits on a countertop inside AmeriCanna's production facility. Although shaped like pot leaves and stamped with Colorado's universal symbol for the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis - a diamond containing the letters "THC" - the gummies would only provide a sugar high at this point. Working with precision and speed, the kitchen supervisor uses a device to soak each candy with marijuana extract, so that each piece contains exactly 10 milligrams of THC, a single dose under the state's regulations. [continues 815 words]
If consumers are going to purchase and consume beer and other alcohol products [Re: Cannabis Corner, "Are People Switching From Booze To Pot?," Jan. 19], consider purchasing them from companies who do not support or enable cannabis (marijuana) prohibition. That's not always easy to do. In the past, large beer producers contributed to the Ad Council, which aired anti-cannabis rhetoric using lies, half-truths and propaganda in order to perpetuate cannabis prohibition, in part to eliminate competition. Another thing making it difficult to know which companies are harmful is the way large breweries are purchasing small craft breweries. [continues 99 words]
It's a question people have been wondering about for years: Would marijuana be a competitor to alcohol if it were legal? Now a new study is out suggesting it might. The Marijuana Times recently reported that according to a study conducted by the research firm Cowen and Company, beer markets in Colorado, Oregon and Washington have "collectively underperformed" over the past three years. All three states have both legal recreational marijuana and a popular craft beer culture. "With all three of these states now having fully implemented a marijuana retail infrastructure, the underperformance of beer in these markets has worsened over the course of 2016," according to the report. [continues 553 words]
A study of Washington high school students out Tuesday examining marijuana use among students in the state two years before and after the vote to legalize in 2012 finds that marijuana use increased by about 3 percent among 8th- and 10th-graders over that period. Conventional wisdom, based on results since marijuana was legalized three years ago in Colorado, is that availability of legal weed is having little or no effect on teen's use of the drug. However, a study of Washington high school students out Tuesday flies somewhat in the face of prevailing opinion. Examining marijuana use among students in the state two years before and after the vote to legalize in 2012, it finds that marijuana use increased by about 3 percent among 8th- and 10th-graders over that period. [continues 591 words]
It was the summer of 2009 when City Council started getting questions and calls about just when Pueblo was going to start allowing medical marijuana stores. It was unknown territory for that council, who were just starting to come to grips with the idea that marijuana could be a legal business, let alone one that city officials would license and tax, like taverns. "Once voters legalized it, Colorado had the opportunity to lead on the issue," recalled Randy Thurston, who was on council at the time. "I really thought we would move faster than we did." [continues 624 words]
The anti-marijuana-legalization movement has made the claim that legalization will lead to an eruption in teenage marijuana use a central part of its narrative. But it turns out that the kids didn't get the memo. The University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research is out with its latest national survey of teenage drug use, including marijuana use, and what it found was that since 2012, the year that Colorado and Washington state legalized pot, teenage drug use is down, not up. [continues 647 words]
The legalization of retail marijuana stores two years ago has had profound impacts on the city and county of Pueblo. Some good. Some bad. Now, the time has come for Pueblo voters to decide whether the benefits outweigh the negatives. For months, The Pueblo Chieftain has been intensely studying this issue, both with special and ongoing news reporting, and also with private editorial board discussions with those for and against retail marijuana stores and grow operations. It is an understatement to say the issue is complicated. So bear with us as we try today to discuss the essential concerns. [continues 1593 words]
Colorado has led the charge for legalization of marijuana and many states are following suit and are entertaining the legalization of marijuana in this year's elections. What most people do not know is that Colorado has a public health problem directly related to marijuana and that 70 percent of Colorado municipalities have voted no to having legalized marijuana in their community. Since de facto legalization in 2009 and by vote in 2014, Colorado has taken over the nation in youth use in 12- to 17-year-olds. The industry has evolved over the past several years and adolescents have evolved as well. They are receiving the message that marijuana is safe and natural, that it's an herb, and that its a medication. [continues 549 words]
Controversial hillside subdivision plan dropped The Dolores Town Board has continued the ban on retail marijuana shops by a vote of 5-2. The pot-sales prohibition ordinance, enacted in 2014, was extended two years, until Dec. 31, 2018, to allow for more time to consider the matter. Before the motion to continue the ban, town trustee Robert Dobry presented a motion that would have allowed the ban to be overturned by resolution of the board, which is less cumbersome than passing an ordinance. [continues 284 words]
Re: "Colorado Amendment 71 tries to cut down on constitutional red tape," Oct. 4. I disagree with (County Commissioner) Dan Gibb's claim that Summit County voters "don't have a say" regarding the initiative process. Further, stating Amendment 71 has bipartisan support neglects the fact that opposition to Amendment 71 also enjoys bipartisan support, but more importantly includes the private sector, which is the vast majority of voters, rather than a list of inconvenienced politicians. One of the clearest examples of potential harm Amendment 71 may cause comes from realizing it could have prevented Colorado voters from ending cannabis prohibition. Summit County and other rural mountain communities played an important part in that successful initiative process and we should continue having access to it, left unchanged, for when politicians fail citizens. Nationally, politicians either ignore this important issue or fight against it, frustrating the majority of citizens who want to end cannabis prohibition. [continues 409 words]
If college athletes want to smoke marijuana, the NCAA probably won't catch them. Treyous Jarrells is proof. The running back signed with CSU because of Colorado's legalization of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes, and he was high in all but one game he played in across two seasons. Jarrells, 23, left the Colorado State University football team early in the 2015 season due to concerns he'd fail a drug test and risk losing his financial aid. Medical marijuana is legal in 25 states, and Jarrells has one of 102,620 medical licenses to legally grow the drug in Colorado. [continues 2623 words]
PUEBLO WEST, Colo. - Out here, in this unincorporated community of 30,000, there are miles of barren scrub-brush dotted with wild sunflowers. Low-slung houses sit on East Gun Powder Lane and North Cougar Drive. There's a Walmart Supercenter, a Little Caesars, a Safeway with a small Starbucks tucked inside. And, throughout the area, a revolt against retail marijuana sales smolders in a state awash in $1 billion of legal pot. Four years ago, Coloradans voted to legalize marijuana for adults, and gave individual localities the opportunity to decide if they would allow retail marijuana shops. [continues 1529 words]
Denver Voters Will Determine Social Use at Some Businesses. Days after rejecting a competing measure for the November ballot, the Denver Elections Division on Thursday approved a proposed initiative that would allow social use of marijuana in some businesses. City voters will decide whether regular businesses, such as bars or cafes or even yoga studios, should be able to create indoor or outdoor consumption areas for bring-your-own marijuana products, under certain conditions. The most significant condition would require that an application for an annual or temporary permit receive backing from a neighborhood group, such as a city-registered neighborhood organization or business improvement district. [continues 573 words]
Last week, Colorado Springs City Council passed another new ordinance that will affect home growers of all stripes. "I didn't say the word..." Fire Marshal Brett Lacey joked while presenting it, straightening up to clarify that "this came out of our dealings with marijuana home grows." Specifically, the new ordinance, which passed unanimously, targets intensive indoor grow operations in residential single-family dwellings and townhomes. Any home grow "utilizing grow lighting shall be limited to areas of the residence other than kitchens, bathrooms and/or bedrooms/sleeping rooms" - with an exception for bedrooms as long as there's another code-compliant one elsewhere in the unit - and that "a room or an enclosure with grow lighting used for flora grow, propagation, consumption, or selling shall be limited to 150 square feet aggregate in size per premises." [continues 622 words]
Dear Stoner: I'm in the midst of a devastating family situation and am so blindsided by grief and stress that I need something to calm me down and help me fall asleep. I don't wish to smoke, but am open to other suggestions. Elizabeth Dear Elizabeth: If this situation is temporary, using cannabis to help you calm down and sleep is a great idea - but don't form a dependency. Marijuana isn't an addictive substance like cocaine or opiates, but the more you can avoid using it regularly for stress relief, the better. That said, sometimes exercise, hobbies and self-reflection aren't enough, and when you're wide awake at night trying to hold back tears, something as simple as a pot cookie can help you fall asleep, regroup and move forward. [continues 349 words]
In November, voters in as many as 12 states will see a marijuana legalization initiative on their ballots. Marijuana is already legal for recreational use in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C. Another 25 states have legalized medical marijuana, including Hawaii. The era of marijuana prohibition is rapidly coming to a close. Unfortunately, lawmakers lack easy answers to tough questions facing the marijuana industry. Legalization presents challenges on a number of fronts, including distribution, taxation, consumption, security and public health. [continues 861 words]
On Nov. 6, 2012 the people of Colorado decisively voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Amendment 64 passed with 55.3 percent of the vote. In Boulder County Amendment 64 received 66.4 percent of the vote. The margin in the City of Boulder was even higher. But you would never know it by the cavalier way County and City elected leaders have chosen to "regulate" marijuana growers in the ensuing four years. Start with Boulder County. Shortly after the passage of Amendment 64 the Boulder County Commissioners voted to ban commercial marijuana production in the agricultural areas of Boulder County. The ban applied to both outdoor and indoor production. [continues 610 words]
Dear Stoner: I've tried sativas and indicas, and they're all fine and dandy, but I'm looking for something more in the middle. What are some good hybrids that are actually hybrids? Happy Jack Dear Jack: All hybrids are actually hybrids. In fact, nearly all of the strains you'll find nowadays are hybrids, but it's easier for people to label something that's 80 to 90 percent indica as "indica" instead of "indica-dominant hybrid" and then have to explain what that means. But I'm guessing you mean something like a 50/50 hybrid, many of which you've probably seen or tried around town. [continues 322 words]
The City Officials Voted 5-4 to Allow a Maximum of Four Retail Shops to Open. Thornton - The state's largest city with an all-out ban on marijuana sales decided Tuesday to allow the nascent industry, but not before hearing an earful from members of the community. The Thornton City Council voted 5-4 to allow retail marijuana shops - capped at four citywide - to open in this northern suburb of 135,000. The city, the sixth largest in Colorado, will start accepting applications from would-be dispensary owners Sept. 1. [continues 379 words]
Colorado legalised marijuana sales two years ago. Ben Hoyle reports on the highs and lows of the decision. The "bud tender" had shoulder-length black hair, a deep well of patience and a connoisseur's pride in his wares as he spread tray after tray of marijuana-based products on the glass counter top. There were fruit gums, chocolate caramels, granola packets, medicated sugar to drop in your coffee or tea in the morning, Rosemary Cheddar Crackers for a savoury taste, a bath soak and even sensual oil for the bedroom, Charles Watson explained. [continues 1041 words]
The 'Green Rush' Has Proven to Be a Mixed Blessing for Colorado and Its State Capital. At Bruce Randolph School in a tough inner-city part of Denver, the staff and pupils used to breathe fumes from a nearby dog food factory. Now they get a regular whiff of something much more controversial. "I smell weed, oh, all day long," says Darlicia Campbell, the school campus safety officer. At first, teachers who kept smelling marijuana in their classrooms summoned her to sniff out the pupil who had brought it. "I was going crazy for a couple of weeks," she recalls. Eventually, the children explained to her that fumes from a nearby marijuana growing centre had entered the school ventilation system. [continues 878 words]
A new Gallup poll released earlier this week finds that self-reported cannabis consumption nearly doubled in the last two years. Thirty-three million people, or 13 percent of U.S. adults, report currently using marijuana, up from 7 percent in 2013. The number of adults that report having used marijuana at some point in their lives also rose slightly from 38 percent in 2013 to 43 percent in 2016. Considering that cannabis is still federally illegal, this is remarkable growth, but it is hard to determine if it is a function of state level decriminalization and legalization efforts or of a decrease in stigma surrounding cannabis consumption. [continues 674 words]
It's possible the result still could be a happy ending. When the "first half of 2016" came and went without a marijuana rescheduling announcement, it became clear the Drug Enforcement Agency didn't feel overly obligated to meet its own self-imposed timeline. But now the DEA has rejected two petitions - one from the governors of Rhode Island and Washington, one from a New Mexico resident - for the removal of cannabis from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. The federal government will continue to consider cannabis as dangerous as heroin, though it will end the monopoly on research-grade cannabis production. [continues 639 words]
"What do you mean the state has budget troubles? What about all the tax money from marijuana? Wasn't that supposed to solve everything?" As a nonprofit devoted to educating Coloradans on the state's unique fiscal challenges, we get that question almost every time now. It doesn't matter what group we're talking to about the state budget or which community in Colorado we're visiting. Ever since recreational marijuana became legal, there has been a seemingly unstoppable urban myth going around that the state is positively swimming in tax revenue from pot sales. [continues 572 words]
The Obama administration's decision to expand opportunities for scientific research of medical marijuana, while leaving cannabis classification under its longtime most-dangerous-drug status, strikes us as an important step, but hardly a solution. The decision is hopeful in that it signals an attempt to end the bureaucratic hurdles that prevent scientific study of the drug that so many advocates claim has curative powers. But leaving in place the stigma and legal problems that a Schedule I designation creates makes the administration's attempt to find some middle ground difficult to truly appreciate. [continues 428 words]
Dear Stoner: I saw your profile on Durban Poison and the pure effects of landrace strains. Are there any others to look out for? I like to know what to expect when I smoke. Taylor Dear Taylor: Landrace strains like Durban Poison come from pure genetics, but they don't have pure effects. That means that while Durban Poison is a pure sativa (if the genetics are legitimate), not everyone feels the same type of high after ingesting it - though the highs are generally similar. But that's how it works for all strains. [continues 341 words]
Every week in the world of cannabis there are timely happenings - new legislation, new businesses, new dimensions of social justice implications - but there are also more lasting phenomenons, subtly evolving undercurrents to the headlines of the ongoing narrative. One of which is the way social media spaces both accommodate and deny cannabis consumers and businesses. Currently Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have bans on cannabis-related advertising. This represents a change in policy that, as little as two years ago, took a much harder stance against cannabis in general and frequently blacked out accounts for merely associating with the plant. [continues 659 words]
Allegations without due process are nothing but allegations. And at this point, that's all there is in the case of the four medical marijuana doctors whose licenses hang in legal limbo since the state medical board suspended them last month. But as those doctors wait for their day in court, former employees of MedEval in Colorado Springs - where one of them, Dr. William Stone, practices - are speaking out against their former boss. Assistant operations manager Lisa Moss who was hired in December and quit June 30, says "it was a clinic for profit, not for patients." She describes a get-them-in-get-them-out kind of attitude toward consultations, with little regard for verification or follow-ups. "Half the time [patients] would only fill out half their intake form, then doc would just sign off on it and that's that," she tells the Indy. "And sometimes, they'd come just straight from the DMV with temporary licenses [to prove residency] and no medical history whatsoever." [continues 626 words]
Colorado's now years-long experiment with legal medical and recreational cannabis markets has been mostly positive and fascinating, and yet the federal government has been slow to rethink its decades-long prohibitionist position. We hope the Obama administration takes advantage of its historic opportunity to end or take steps toward dismantling the destructive war on pot. What an irony it would be if Obama, who has openly admitted to pot use in his early years, and who has shown great tolerance toward local legalization laws, left office without having moved the nation away from the antiquated reefer-madness enforcement of past presidencies. [continues 444 words]
The latest marijuana legalization polls are out, and they contain bad news and good news. First, the bad news. Recent polls in both Massachusetts and Arizona - two of the five states that will be voting on legalizing recreational marijuana this November - show the initiatives losing. In Massachusetts, a poll conducted by Gravis Marketing found that 51 percent of those surveyed planned to vote against the legalization initiative, while 41 percent planned to vote for it. In Arizona, a poll conducted by OH Predictive Insights, found the initiative losing 52.5 percent to 39.1 percent. [continues 680 words]
Dear Stoner: I bought a disposable hash pen, and it broke. I took it back to the dispensary (they were great about it and gave me a new one), but the budtender said I could keep my old one and use the liquid for topicals. What did he mean by that? J Money Dear Money: Let's hope that one day these hash pens reach a true level of consistency; I occasionally get one that leaks, too. You have several options with a leaky pen. If you want to vape the oil, you can buy a pen battery and refillable cartridge at a vape shop and try to siphon the oil from your disposable pen into the empty cartridge. If the budtender suggested using the liquid as a topical, he probably meant that you could mix it with something to rub on your aching joints or muscles for pain relief. The topicals you see at dispensaries are all infused with cannabis oil, which is pretty much the same stuff in your pen (without the vaping liquid), but they come in the form of balms and lotions for easy application, as rubbing hash oil on your body can get messy. However, topicals infused with cannabis oils are high in CBD, not THC. CBD doesn't get you stoned; it's used for sleep aid, pain relief and inflammation. So unless you bought a high-CBD pen, rubbing concentrated THC on your skin probably won't do much more than make it glisten and smell like hash. Perfect hippie bait. [continues 190 words]
Where there's money, novelty and potential fame, people want in. For some, though, actually getting into Colorado's burgeoning cannabis industry is more difficult than for others. Take the experience of Taneesha Melvin, a 28-year-old Colorado Springs native. This spring, she says, she left her job at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in search of new employment. As a medical marijuana patient herself, Melvin figured her knowledge of strains, experience volunteering at a local dab lounge and service background positioned her well to be a budtender at one of the city's 133 dispensaries. So she dropped $150 on a background check and other licensing fees and set out on the job hunt. [continues 628 words]
Dear Stoner: I want to try my hand at making CBD-extracted products. Is it better to use hemp or real marijuana for it? C-Mac Dear Mac: It depends on your experience with marijuana and cannabinoid extraction. Most cannabidiol (CBD) users and product-makers use industrial hemp, because it's easier to grow legally and naturally higher in CBD cannabinoids than most flowering marijuana plants, which generally have more THC. If you want to start creating personal CBD products in Colorado, all you have to do is make sure your hemp plants or oils have less than 0.3 percent THC, and you can make all the CBD-infused balms, lotions and foods you like - as long as your home-extraction methods don't involve butane or any other explosive solvent. [continues 330 words]
Medical Study Shows 34% Rise in Cases of Pediatric Marijuana Exposure As more Colorado adults become comfortable with marijuana in their homes, more young children are ingesting the drug, a new study reports. The JAMA Pediatrics report notes Colorado saw an increase of pediatric marijuana cases by 34% annually, compared with 19% for the rest of the USA. Coloradans are baking marijuana into chocolate chip cookies, brownies and pies and adding it to candy fruit chews and chocolate bars - all sweets that toddlers find irresistible. And, the edibles market is still in its infancy. [continues 152 words]
A new study shows marijuana poisoning in young children has risen 150 percent in Colorado since the substance was legalized in 2014 - a frightening statistic that has opponents of the Bay State legal marijuana ballot initiative warning that the same could happen in Massachusetts. "The edible products for the marijuana industry are a huge part of the profit and growth model," said Rep. Hannah Kane, of the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts' steering committee. "Children are highly susceptible to these products." [continues 213 words]
It would be impossible to argue these days in Colorado that patients who use medical marijuana aren't getting a pretty good deal. As in the earliest days of legalization, most Coloradans are comfortable giving patients or their caregivers the right to grow several plants. For years now, dispensaries catering to patients have been plentiful, as are a variety of products intended to address particular ailments and issues. And the state doesn't collect a sin tax on medical marijuana patients. [continues 475 words]
Last week, the Colorado Medical Board suspended the licenses of four doctors for allegedly recommending too much marijuana to patients. The doctors turned around and sued the health board, winning a temporary stay on the suspensions while they decide whether to proceed in administrative court or district court. This is the most sweeping punishment doled out to medical marijuana doctors in the system's nearly 20-year existence. Among the four is Dr. William Stone, who practices at the MedEval Clinic on the northeast side of Colorado Springs. His suspension order, issued July 19, contains the written findings of the board's inquiry panel. The panel accuses Stone of signing more than 400 recommendations for possession of more than 75 plants. That, plus Stone's performing evaluations online rather than in person, led the panel to take "emergency action." The other three doctors are also accused of recommending more than 75 plants to hundreds of patients - what law enforcement professionals say is an abuse of the legal system that is feeding the black market. [continues 512 words]
To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado, the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 524 words]
To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 530 words]
DENVER - To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bearshaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. New York Times These brownie bites by Spot contain 5 milligrams of THC per serving. A study in JAMA Pediatrics says the rate of marijuana exposure in young children in Colorado has increased 150 percent since recreational use was legalized. [continues 789 words]
To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 225 words]
Accidental Consumption Leading to Hospital Trips Colorado's laws on labeling and child-resistant packaging have been unable to stop an increase of young kids ending up in the emergency room after accidentally consuming marijuana, according to a new study published online Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. The study - led by a doctor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus - found that emergency room visits and poison-control calls for kids 9 and younger who consumed pot in Colorado jumped after recreational marijuana stores opened. About twice as many kids visited the Children's Hospital Colorado emergency room per year in 2014 and 2015 as did in years before the opening of recreational marijuana stores, according to the study. Annual poison-control cases increased fivefold, the study found. [continues 473 words]
To a child on the prowl for sweets, that brownie, cookie or bear-shaped candy left on the kitchen counter is just asking to be gobbled up. But in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, notably Colorado, that child may end up with more than a sugar high. A study published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics says that in Colorado the rates of marijuana exposure in young children, many of them toddlers, have increased 150 percent since 2014, when recreational marijuana products, like sweets, went on the market legally. [continues 750 words]
BOULDER, Colo. - The nondescript building in east Boulder is like many other in the city; is, in fact, identical to several surrounding structures. Passing motorists and pedestrians wouldn't know that there's a multi-million dollar manufacturing operation inside. And that's the way the folks at CW Hemp want it. Even if someone did manage to peek inside the 18,000-square-foot lab, warehouse and office space, they wouldn't know that one of the most famous strains of hemp in the world is processed here, reported the Daily Camera. [continues 922 words]
Advisory Ends After Residents Were Told Not to Bathe, Drink or Cook With Their Tap Water Hugo - the small town that made a sudden appearance in national headlines for nearly two days - is returning to normal after state laboratories determined that all six field tests that gave rise to suspicions about THC-contaminated water turned out to be false positives. Sandie Bailey and her 10-year-old daughter, JoHanna, said Friday that dishes were starting to pile up in their kitchen in Hugo because they were scared to use the town's water. The water was feared to be contaminated by THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana. Testing by the CBI, announced Saturday, eliminated that fear. Photos by RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post [continues 355 words]
DENVER - There are no marijuana dispensaries or greenhouses in the tiny railroad town of Hugo, where Theodore Roosevelt once ate breakfast with the local cowboys. But this week, Hugo's 740 residents were told to stop drinking the water after the town's water supply tested positive for THC, the psychoactive chemical in Colorado's most famous cash crop. The trouble started when a local company trying to calibrate its employee drug tests pulled a positive reading from Hugo's tap water. The town's Public Works Department investigated and found signs of tampering and "forced entry" at one of the wells that supply the town's drinking water, a spokesman for the Lincoln County sheriff told reporters. The town sealed off the well that seemed to be the source of the tainted water. [continues 298 words]
Hugo) This town on Colorado's Eastern Plains warned its residents not to drink, bathe in or cook with its tap water Thursday because officials said multiple preliminary tests of the water came back positive for THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana. Residents were told not even to let their pets drink the water. There have been no reports of illnesses or any symptoms of impairment from drinking the water, officials said at a news conference Thursday evening. Deeper tests, which could be completed Friday, are needed to verify the presence of THC and to determine the level of contamination, if any. [continues 846 words]
Dear Stoner: My dad has expressed an interest in getting in on all this marijuana business; as a supportive daughter, I'm wondering if there is any opportunity for a veteran civil engineer in the industry. Marisa Dear Marisa: Your dad is probably overqualified for 99.5 percent of the jobs in the marijuana industry at the moment - but he could still find ways to use his skills, and there may be more opportunities in the future. Depending on what sort of civil engineer he was/is, he could help design the exteriors of grow houses. With all of the energy that hydroponic systems use in warehouses, I'm sure commercial growers and environmentalists alike would be interested in maximizing efficiency and minimizing energy use. [continues 339 words]
The smoky sunsets of late make for an eerie reminder of the fires burning all around the Springs - to the west, up north and in our past. It's unwelcome deja vu, but it seems all but inevitable each summer. Colorado is hot, dry and windy during the summer, making it fertile ground for ravaging fires. But research suggests this recent uptick may be attributable to insect outbreaks, drought and rising temperatures - all symptoms of manmade climate change. Innovators not resigned to that fate have found an unlikely tool for both surviving wildfires and preventing them at the same time: cannabis. (But not the kind that gets you high.) [continues 546 words]
Hallucinogenic African Bark Could Be the Answer to Heroin Addiction, and Addiction in General Richard Dilley had tried everything by the time he traveled to Mexico and agreed to ingest a drug derived from a hallucinogenic African shrub bark that, he was told, would alter his brain. All for the bargain price of $10,000. While terrifying in a way, the drug known as ibogaine (or Tabernanthe iboga in its natural state) was, at this point, less of a horror than the drug Dilley had been addicted to since his teen years. [continues 3617 words]
EDGEWATER - This may not be the city that cannabis built, but Colorado's most famous cash crop could soon be the driving force behind construction of a $7 million, 40,000-square-foot civic center in this tiny community wedged between Lakewood and Denver. Edgewater is exploring using sales tax revenue from marijuana sales to cover more than half the cost - $4 million - of building a facility that will house a new city hall, police station, fitness center and library. It's a project that likely wouldn't move forward - - at least not for years - absent the tax remittances made by the city's halfdozen pot shops. The city expects to collect north of $1.2 million in sales tax revenues from pot in 2016. [continues 823 words]
Halfway through 2016, Colorado's employment growth is meeting expectations and the the economy continues to outperform the nation: Employment is growing faster here, housing is hotter and incomes are higher, according to a report released Thursday by the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business. And Colorado's fledgling marijuana industry - which, in the grand scheme of things, is just a tiny sliver of the economic pie chart - is backfilling retail sales losses from the bankruptcy of a certain Englewood-based sporting goods retailer and bolstering otherwise sluggish manufacturing segments, according to the Colorado Business Review report. [continues 650 words]
News that backers of an antipot ballot measure decided to shelve their campaign should count as a hollow victory for Colorado's cannabis industry - and as a clear wake-up call. For one thing, the surprising claim that the marijuana industry gamed the system to keep Amendment 139 from voters would be, if substantiated, a public relations nightmare. But that's not all. The ballot fight stirs up a second perception problem that marijuana sellers would be smart to address on their own. [continues 447 words]
Dear Stoner: I'll be visiting Colorado this summer, and everyone is telling me I can only buy a quarter-ounce. Is that true? If so, is that for every shop, or can I buy more at another? Dear Based: It used to be that way, but not any longer! In June, Governor John Hickenlooper signed a law bumping up the out-of-stater limit to an ounce, so you don't have to limit yourself to a quarter-ounce at each shop you visit. Not that I've met many people who go through a quarter in a day - but they're out there. [continues 363 words]
A statewide ballot initiative aimed at Colorado's legal cannabis industry disintegrated on July 8, much to the chagrin of its proponents and relief of opponents. Amendment 139, which would've effectively taken 80 percent of products off dispensaries' shelves, had scored approvals from the state Title Board, Colorado Supreme Court and Secretary of State's Office. But, according to backers' withdrawal announcement, the task of gathering 98,492 valid signatures by Aug. 8 became nearly impossible when, they alleged, industry-funded opposition "[bought] off signature gatherers to keep the initiative from moving forward." [continues 514 words]
The activists aiming to implement strict THC limits on Colorado's recreational marijuana industry will withdraw the controversial Amendment 139 next week, their attorney told The Cannabist on Friday. "139 is done," said attorney Frank McNulty, Colorado's former Speaker of the House and the lawyer representing the Healthy Colorado Coalition, made up of citizens pushing for tighter controls on the cannabis industry. "This is something I spent a great deal of time on in my last two years in the legislature, and my interest in protecting our state and our kids hasn't waned since then. [continues 739 words]
Latest Innovation From Weed Growers Is More Partnership Than Endorsement Deal. Pot is going the way of sneakers and snowboards. As cannabis fights for a foothold in the U.S. economy, innovative weed growers are taking cues from a variety of industries - footwear, musical instruments, skis and snowboards, for example - and working with superstar musicians to develop signature marijuana strains, pro-model cannabis that sails off the shelves. Colorado's growers - captains of the state's maturing cannabis scene - - are leading the charge in this next stage of marijuana marketing that's more partnership than endorsement deal. [continues 836 words]
Marijuana is legal in Denver and Boulder. As you drive around Boulder, you will notice that the marijuana stores are low-key - almost invisible. Driving through Denver, the marijuana stores are quite glaring. To me, the visible marketing cheapens the look of Denver. I suggest that Denver politicians can learn something from Boulder. Boulder's zoning laws tightly regulate marijuana marketing. I think that really helps Boulder's image. Should low-key visual marketing be considered in Denver, the marijuana stores will complain about how much money they've invested in signage. I suggest the Denver City Council give them four years to recoup the investment, then make the stores take down the signs. Denver can do better! Robert L. Poley, Boulder [end]
Dueling Petitions Would Allow for Social Use of Pot Denver voters could have their pick in November between two initiatives aimed at allowing social use of marijuana in different places. One group has been gathering signatures for an initiative that would allow private marijuana consumption clubs. The other has a more expansive aim: to allow nearly any business, including a bar, to offer a set-off, 21-and-over public "consumption area," so long as the owner obtains a neighborhood group's support first. [continues 644 words]
Dear Stoner: My friend said his landlord has been giving him shit for smoking pot. WTF? It's legal! Deb Dear Deb: It sure is, but that doesn't protect renters who smoke pot in a house owned by someone else. It's not uncommon to see no-smoking stipulations in leases, and they aren't limited to just tobacco (though few are crafty enough to specify vaporizers or smoking in the back yard). Unless your friend's landlord is persistent and lives close enough to spy, smoking pot there isn't much different than smoking pot was in any rental house three and a half years ago, when it was still illegal. [continues 296 words]
When I came to Denver three years ago, I was a bit shocked at the condition of the streets. Oh well, I thought, money must be tight here. But then marijuana legalization happened and I read about the avalanche of money it created. Do the pot users and wide-eyed would-be millionaire entrepreneurs not use the roads? One would think some of this newfound source of tax money could be used to repair at least the worst of them. No? Jeff Costello, Denver [end]
Crouse worries new local law will lead to another years-long legal battle. Bob Crouse didn't think he'd still be fighting. Standing outside the City Administration Building downtown with a cardboard sign and a cadre of medical marijuana supporters on Wednesday, June 29, he remembers this exact day four years ago. It was 4:20 p.m., he says, that a jury decided he was not guilty on charges of felony possession with intent to distribute. That moment of elation contrasted the nightmarish events leading up to it. Diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, Crouse says his prospects looked grim until he started medicating with homemade "phoenix tears" - - a concentrated oil extracted from cannabis flower. That regimen started killing his cancer cells, but in May 2011, local police cut down and confiscated his 55 marijuana plants and pounds of processed flower. After being acquitted, he sued to get his medicine back - some $300,000 worth - plants that ultimately were returned dead and unusable. [continues 559 words]
Colorado's Health Department has $ 2.4 million to put toward studies about marijuana use, and now it is looking for researchers to help spend it. The department this week began accepting grant applications for its Retail Marijuana Health Monitoring Program. The department already has a historic research program to fund studies on medical marijuana. The new grants, funded by the legislature this spring, will go toward studies about the health effects of marijuana use more generally across the state post-legalization. Money for the grants comes from marijuana taxes. [continues 67 words]
"Denver mayor says violence won't be tolerated on 16th Street Mall," June 30 news story ( online only). Let's just assume what DenverMayorMichael Hancock is saying is true- that marijuana is ruining the 16th Street Mall, which most people would find preposterous. Where has his leadership been as he's seen the mall's safety deteriorating? The 16th Street Mall is the most visited place in Denver and has deserved more police protection since long before marijuana was legalized. It's time for city leaders to have the appropriate amount of police officers for the whole city. [continues 129 words]
With California poised to vote on marijuana legalization in November, some may be asking, "What effect would it have on our youths?" If Colorado is any measure, youth use may not rise. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment surveyed teens about marijuana habits and found that marijuana use has decreased 5 percentage points since 2009. Then, 43 percent said they had used marijuana, while now that number is at 38 percent. Colorado's voters legalized marijuana for adults with a ballot measure in 2012. [continues 278 words]
Dear Stoner: I really want to try my hand at growing my own, but I live across the street from an elementary school. What am I supposed to? Jamey Dear Jamey: Once cultivating marijuana became legal under the Colorado Constitution in 2012, you've been allowed to grow marijuana in your home no matter where you live - as long as you're the homeowner or have permission from the homeowner. Think of it this way: Can a homeowner brew beer on his/her property if it's near a school? The answer is yes, so what makes growing recreational marijuana any different - other than years of uneducated prohibition? [continues 315 words]
At around 5 p.m. on Monday, June 20, a medical marijuana center on the north side of Colorado Springs was the target of an armed robbery. According to the police blotter, "a male with a light complexion wearing dark clothes" entered the business, weapon in hand, demanding cash. He made away with an undisclosed amount of money and merchandise. Lt. Timothy Stankey, police department spokesman, says that because the suspect is still at-large and an investigation is just getting underway, the full case report is unavailable. [continues 792 words]
Backers say smokers need "place to go"; foes foresee "wrong message" Legal marijuana is giving Colorado a stinky conundrum. Visitors can buy the drug, but they can't use it in public. Or in a rental car. Or in most hotel rooms. The result is something marijuana advocates and opponents feared - people toking up on sidewalks, in city parks, and in alleys behind bars and restaurants - despite laws against doing so. And they're getting dinged with public marijuana consumption tickets. [continues 641 words]
When Colorado legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012, opponents of the new law warned that more teenagers would start using the drug. But teen use of marijuana has held steady, according to a new survey of nearly 17,000 high school and middle school students by the state Department of Public Health and Environment. The study, released this week, also found that "Colorado does not significantly differ from the national average in lifetime or current marijuana use." Colorado, which has some of the most liberal marijuana laws in the country, is something of a test case for legalization, as 25 states now allow medical or recreational use of the drug to varying degrees. Legalization advocates have seized on the findings to bolster their position. [continues 454 words]
DENVER (AP) - Marijuana use among Colorado high-schoolers has not increased since legalization, the state Health Department reported Monday in a new batch of youth survey results. The 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado survey of about 17,000 middle and high school students across the state showed that 21.2 percent of high school students reported that they currently use pot. That's just a hair below the national average, which was 21.7 percent. Since voters approved recreational marijuana use for those 21 and older in 2012, Colorado has worked to keep youths off of pot. Campaigns have said the drug will keep them from achieving their full potential and reminded them their brains aren't fully developed until they reach 25. [continues 69 words]
In a recent Associated Press article "Colorado: Youth pot use hasn't gone up since legalization" the main idea was that overall in Colorado marijuana use among high schoolers has remained stagnant at 21 percent, just below the national average of 22 percent. The Pueblo for Positive Impact group found the rate in Pueblo is much higher at 30.1 percent among high schoolers and decided to post several posts to its Facebook page, emphasizing this huge difference. The rate in Pueblo is the highest in the state and was for the past survey as well. I have recently been blocked by the group for posing links to the past survey showing Pueblo use is actually declining since dispensaries were opened in the state. [continues 93 words]
DENVER (AP) - Legal marijuana is giving Colorado a stinky conundrum. Visitors can buy the drug, but they can't use it in public. Or in a rental car. Or in most hotel rooms. The result is something marijuana advocates and opponents alike feared - people toking up on sidewalks, in city parks and in alleys behind bars and restaurants - despite laws against doing so. And they're getting dinged with tickets. From Denver to mountain resorts like Aspen and Breckenridge, police wrote nearly 800 citations for the new crime of public consumption in 2014, the first year recreational sales began. [continues 287 words]
The biggest single risk in legalizing marijuana in 2012 - with no other issue even close - was the effect it might have on adolescents. Would usage skyrocket among this group? Teens who use drugs are more likely than adults to end up dependent on them and to suffer other long-term consequences, such as academic failure. If it can be shown for sure that legalization pushes more kids into pot use, most arguments on behalf of legal pot would be overwhelmed. That's why the recent data from the state's Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which shows marijuana use among high school students has not increased and is roughly the same as the national average, is so heartening. Even the most ardent opponents of legalization ought to pleased, since the prospect of repealing Amendment 64 in the near future is approximately zero. We're going to be living with the consequences of legalization for the time being, both good and bad. [continues 318 words]
Rates of cannabis use among Colorado's teenagers are essentially unchanged in the years since the state's voters legalised marijuana in 2012, new survey data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows. Last year, 21 per cent of Colorado youths had used marijuana in the past 30 days. That rate is slightly lower than the national average and down slightly from the 25 per cent who used marijuana in 2009, before legalisation. The survey was based on a random sample of 17,000 middle and high school students in Colorado. [continues 337 words]
The initiative against pot in both the city and county of Pueblo supposedly leaves the medical side alone. Indeed, the language of the submitted ballot question specifies "retail" marijuana facilities and the campaign for its passage focuses on the ills of legalizing recreational use. But, in effect, the two sides of the industry are so intertwined that banning one could pose a serious threat to the other. According to the state Marijuana Enforcement Division's records, 17 of Pueblo County's 22 licensed retail marijuana dispensaries have a corresponding medical center - nearly all in the same location. [continues 780 words]
DENVER (AP) - Legal marijuana is giving Colorado a stinky conundrum. Visitors can buy the drug, but they can't use it in public. Or in a rental car. Or in most hotel rooms. The result is something marijuana advocates and opponents feared - people toking up on sidewalks, in city parks and in alleys behind bars and restaurants - despite laws against doing so. And they're getting dinged with public marijuana consumption tickets. From the capital city of Denver to mountain resorts like Aspen and Breckenridge, police wrote nearly 800 citations for the new crime of public consumption in 2014, the first year recreational sales began. [continues 421 words]
21% Figure Just Below National Average DENVER (AP) - Marijuana use among Colorado high schoolers has not increased since legalization. That's according to the state Health Department, which released a new batch of youth survey results Monday. The 2015 survey of about 17,000 middle and high school students across the state showed that about 21 percent of high school students reported that they currently use pot. That's just a hair below the national average, which was almost 22 percent. [continues 64 words]
One out of every five Colorado teens admits having used marijuana in the past month, but that rate has not increased since pot was legalized in the state and is in line with the national average, according to a new report from the state Health Department. Among the other findings of the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, released Monday: The large majority of Colorado middle and high school students - 62 percent - say they have never used marijuana. Alcohol is the drug of choice among Colorado teens, with 30 percent of kids surveyed saying they drank within the previous month. [continues 593 words]
Commissioner Is Open to a Ballot Question but Suspects a Ban Is Unlikely. Legal recreational marijuana and a low cost of living have drawn growers, sellers and users to the Pueblo area, but a group of residents hopes to change that. Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo submitted petitions to the county and state that, if approved, will place measures to ban commercial cultivation and sales of recreational marijuana in the city and county of Pueblo in November. "We've had this for almost 2 1/2 years, we see what it looks like, and we don't want it for our community," said Charlene Graham, the group's chairwoman. [continues 201 words]
A Three-Part Approach Can Satisfy State, Feds Alike This summer may be a big moment in the national conversation about marijuana. With a decision coming by July 1, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency could partially legalize medical marijuana, and the federal government could usher in a new era with a comprehensive and multi-structural approach to pot policy. Just don't expect to fill a marijuana brownie prescription at your local drug store any time soon. Marijuana has been a Schedule I narcotic since 1970. That means, in the eyes of the federal government, marijuana has no medicinal value and is highly addictive. [continues 694 words]
Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo submitted more than the required amount of signed petitions to both the City Clerk and the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Thursday to place initiatives on the November ballot that would eliminate commercialized marijuana in the city and the county. The anti-pot group, which has been collecting signatures over the last eight weeks, turned in 4,476 signatures to the city - 2,541 petitions more than the required amount - to City Clerk Gina Dutcher. Dutcher's staff counted the signatures Thursday. The signatures were signed on 177 petition sections. [continues 705 words]
The Bill Would Forbid the Use of Federal Funds to Punish Banks. Banks wishing to do business with the marijuana industry without fear of government reprisal inched closer to reality - again - when a Senate committee Thursday approved a measure - again - to do just that. A bill nearly identical to one passed by the Senate last year, this time sponsored by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Washington Sen. Patty Murray, was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and would forbid the use of federal funds to penalize a financial institution that works with marijuana enterprises legally operating under state laws. [continues 459 words]
Dear Stoner: I've been dealing with migraines for years, and my prescribed medication rarely works. I've been thinking about medical marijuana as an alternative treatment. Does it do anything for migraines? Ken Dear Ken: They say that those who deal with migraines and insomnia are the most intelligent and creative people; I am neither, but my dumb ass still dealt with the same issue growing up. I tried all sorts of treatments - aspirin, prescription ibuprofen and Imitrex, multiple MRIs, even locking myself in a dark, silent room - but nothing worked. I've also gotten so stoned that I've forgotten I even had a migraine - but that put me out of commission longer than the headache ever did. Finally, I spoke with a medical marijuana doctor about my condition, and he recommended tinctures and edibles. [continues 300 words]
Advocates call for descheduling. Last week, CannaBiz covered local activists' demonstration outside the Air Force Academy before President Barack Obama's widely watched commencement address. As cars from all over the country poured in, the loosely affiliated Cannabis Patient Rights Coalition spoke out - asking the mayor to stop tightening local regulations and the president to stop classifying cannabis as an illegal narcotic. That federally illegal status is cause for much consternation in Colorado's burgeoning industry and all those who operate, regulate, litigate, finance and insure it. But, as the activists lining the road into the Air Force Academy on the morning of June 2 readily admit, changing that status has to be done properly. [continues 629 words]
I am gravely concerned about the effort to ban the sale, cultivation and testing facilities of recreational marijuana in Pueblo County. Now that marijuana is legal in Colorado, counties have the choice of whether to regulate the industry locally. Through responsible regulation, they create a climate in which jobs are created and tax revenue is generated. Pueblo County has aggressively regulated the retail marijuana industry. These regulations have added over $3 million in revenue to Pueblo County since 2014. This new revenue stream has benefited all our citizens through scholarships, services for the homeless, 4-H and FFA and other programs. [continues 88 words]
I have been following Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo for some time now and I must say I am very disappointed in the name choice. I would say that "citizens against marijuana in Pueblo" would be much more appropriate. Among marijuana companies, dispensaries open to the public are the largest source of tax for a city. Retail marijuana is taxed more heavily than anything else in the marijuana industry. Last year, the tax collected from marijuana (rivaled) the tax collected from alcohol in Colorado. [continues 172 words]
Dear Stoner:I'm going to Vegas in October and wonder if I can use my Colorado medical card to pick up a little medicine while I'm there. Rich Dear Rich: Nevada is one of the few medical marijuana states with a reciprocity law that allows out-of-state patients to possess and purchase cannabis while they're visiting. Although the state might not have as many dispensaries or options as you'll find in Colorado, Nevada has become a haven for patients coming from states with more restrictive regulations - and those coming from states with no MMJ. A February article in the Las Vegas Sun detailed how pre-screened tourists with a valid California ID or U.S. passport boarded a California-bound bus in Vegas and were connected with a doctor, who evaluated the tourists for a California medical card. If the tourists were approved, a medical marijuana recommendation was printed on the bus in Vegas, where the new patients were then free to visit dispensaries and carry and consume cannabis. [continues 274 words]
Even for a city always crawling with military brass, our June 2 visitor was still a cut above. The Commander in Chief was in town to address the Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony - an affair that brought in proud families from all over the country and, of course, sizable media attention. Local cannabis activists saw an opportunity in the occasion. Rolling out of bed at sunrise, a group of 10 diehards gathered around the Academy's gates to send a message to President Barack Obama, Mayor John Suthers and all the ceremony attendees: Leave patients alone. [continues 612 words]
This letter is not to start a debate or argue whether I'm pro-or anti-cannabis. Every person in Pueblo has the right to believe whatever they so choose, along with the right to vote on what's happening within their own county. I am just informing the people who read The Pueblo Chieftain on what the petition really means and intends to do. There are four types of licenses for marijuana, and there are retail and medical licenses for each. [continues 206 words]
When it comes to the war on marijuana in Pueblo, pot proponents claim we should worry about "real" drugs like heroin and prescription drugs- not marijuana. My answer: We do worry. I believe making marijuana legal has only fueled heroin use. Fifteen years ago physicians and hospitals were told they weren't managing pain adequately. Health care responded. What followed was a national prescription opiate epidemic. The Center for Disease Control reports prescription opioid abuse leads to a 40-fold increase in heroin use. Yet Colorado opiate prescriptions per 100 residents have decreased (CDC 2014). Our state weighs in at 70, compared with 120 to 140 for the Rust Belt and southern states. [continues 209 words]
Dear Stoner: I just got some pot brownies, and I'm not planning to ingest them for two weeks. Do you think the potency will still be the same, and if they'll be okay to eat? Can I heat them up if they go hard?Tasnim Dear Tasnim: We've talked to multiple cannabis bakeries and kitchens about the shelf life of edibles, and all of them have said that edibles are pretty hard to tarnish in terms of potency, so two weeks definitely wouldn't be long enough to harm your brownies. The "normal" ingredients in them are what you need to worry about, because they'll decay much faster on your kitchen counter than THC would. Throw the brownies in the freezer if you're scared of spoilage, but that's just to fend off mold, not THC degradation. Freezing definitely beats food poisoning - and what a waste of pot that would be! [continues 258 words]
Third time was the charm for Congress to pass legislation to let Veterans Administration doctors discuss medical marijuana with patients in states where it's legal (like this one!). From a 195-222 failed House vote in 2014 to a narrower 210-213 loss in 2015, this month the House shifted to a 233-189 approval - reflecting the transformation in public opinion over those years. Among the "no" votes that failed to stop the action, co-authored by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, was Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs. Lamborn, who represents this veteran-laden district and sits on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, has long decried the shortcomings of what he terms "Obama's VA department." Many local vets are as familiar with those shortcomings - the bureaucratic bottlenecking of much-needed care - as they are with elected leaders' failure to effect meaningful reform. And that frustration has fueled the fight for expanded access to medical marijuana to treat the wounds of war, as detailed in the Indy's April 20 cover story "Aim to Heal." [continues 596 words]
Richard Kirk Is Charged With Murder, but a Lawsuit Contends That Edible Marijuana Made Him Do It. DENVER - Kristine Kirk's last moments were a harrowing collision of terror and confusion. Her husband, Richard, had burst through the door ranting about the end of the world. He began climbing in and out of a first-floor window, lying on the bedroom floor and asking for someone to kill him. Then he retrieved a pistol from his safe. "He's taking the gun out, sir," Kristine, 44, told a Denver 911 dispatcher. "I don't know where to go.... Richard, please stop ... please stop ... please stop." [continues 897 words]
Police Also Recover Suspected Cocaine From Suspects' Vehicles Police recovered 9.1 pounds of processed marijuana and a little more than $20,000 cash from the room of [name1 redacted], the Fort Lewis College student who was shot and killed early Tuesday during a home invasion. The marijuana was in plastic bags and glass jars, and all the packaging was marked with product information, according to a news release issued Thursday by the Durango Police Department. "It is obvious from the packaging and through interviews that this is black market marijuana, and it was being illegally distributed," the release says. [continues 311 words]
Dear Stoner: My brother has cancer, and I think medical marijuana would be better for his pain than Oxycontin, which can be addictive. If you were looking for advice on what strains to use, where would you go? Marge Dear Marge: Opiate painkillers work for many people, but I've also seen the addictive effects firsthand: Several kids I went to high school with are now doing heroin because of their opiate addictions. For cancer patients suffering extreme pain and nausea from their conditions and/or chemotherapy, potent and heavy strains are the way to go. Heavy indicas like Afghani, Alien Rock Candy, Bubba Kush or Grape Ape are all great candidates for insomnia and pain relief. Most strains with the word "Purple" in their names and any indica-leaning kush are also usually a safe bet. Sativa strains like Jack Herer, Tangerine Kush and anything Hawaiian are good for stimulating appetites, but they affect everyone differently. [continues 287 words]
Plant-count work-arounds Last week, CannaBiz reported on the plight of Rebecca Lockwood - a local mom who grows marijuana at home to treat her severely autistic son, Calvin, and several other sick kids. Since City Council put a 12-plant limit on residential grows, caregivers like her will have to choose: stop making life-saving medicine or risk arrest. This week, CannaBiz breaks down that choice, because nothing's really ever that simple, is it? One option for homegrowers is to buy from a dispensary. That is indeed viable if any of the 132 medical marijuana centers in town grow the appropriate strains at an affordable price point. But that's a big "if." Many patients grow at home precisely because those factors are prohibitive. [continues 356 words]
I have nothing against the legal use of marijuana. However, after driving by Civic Center on Sunday morning and seeing it trashed by participants of Saturday's pot celebration, I think all future gatherings of this type should be forever banned from city facilities. There were thousands of bottles and other debris strewn over several blocks of Broadway. There were clearly inadequate trash containers, and the participants were slobs. I hope the city has the ability to levy heavy fines against the promoter. Abby Humphrey, Denver [end]
Street marijuana dealers face the same risks and penalties if they were selling crack cocaine or other schedule 1 substances. Because they take the same risk, it is likely that the street dealer will also carry drugs other than marijuana. The illegal street pusher takes no more risk offering more dangerous and addictive substances and therefore offers the gateway to purchase them. Recreational cannabis is clean, controlled, monitored by law enforcement, regulated and tested. No other product is dispensed and no gateways are offered within these law-abiding establishments. Let's keep our recreational systems in place and keep our Pueblo residents out of jeopardy. Let's keep educating and put our efforts into preventing illegal street marijuana gateway sales from occurring. Peter Mutty Pueblo West [end]
The Littleton City Council's crushing 5-1 vote this week against allowing recreational marijuana sales is the latest evidence that Coloradans remain deeply divided over this state's ongoing experiment with legal pot. Even after more than two years of extensive retail sales next door in Denver, Littleton leaders believe such commerce could do more harm to their community than it is worth. Which is their prerogative, of course. Amendment 64 provides for a local option and that's what the city just exercised. [continues 378 words]
Dear Stoner: I'm thinking about quitting smoking flower. I'll probably eat edibles, but I want my lungs to stay healthy. Will they heal themselves if I quit? J.R. Huff 'n' Stuff Dear J.R.: Good for you, man. As much as I love consuming cannabis and all that it does, there's no way around the effects of smoke on lungs after years of use, so I commend you for even considering the idea. According to the American Lung Association, the dangers of marijuana smoke include chronic cough, phlegm production, wheezing and acute bronchitis. The first three are likely to gradually disappear in the weeks, months and years after you quit smoking, but if you get chronic bronchitis or emphysema, then you're stuck for life. If your lungs and the air sacs in them aren't completely forsaken, though, they could slowly regenerate and eventually filter out all of the tar - so don't be surprised if you continue to cough for a little after quitting. [continues 264 words]
Recently in The Pueblo Chieftain I read a group of medical professionals united to sign a document in favor of the current (misguided) petition in favor of outlawing marijuana establishments, etc.; within Pueblo County. Currently, another voter issue would allow wine, full-strength beers and even spirits in grocery stores. I see none of the righteous indignation of these groups over the alcohol issue. The hypocrisy is astonishing, ROTFLOL (Rolling on the floor laughing out loud). Alcohol is much worse than marijuana. But marijuana is so much more emotional than alcohol. [continues 189 words]
I am writing in response to a recent article published on May 3 titled, "At the State Capitol: Marijuana bill headed to the governor." I understand this is a sensitive subject with many pros and cons; however, I feel that HB 1373 is a solid start to allowing children with various diseases or disorders to get there medical marijuana (nonsmokeable) medicine administered in school by a parent or guardian. I realize this bill may come under some scrutiny from other student's parents and or teachers due to the risk of having marijuana on the premises, thus giving the impression that drugs are allowed at school. I feel that school staff and parents may communicate regularly that these adults will control this policy with sternness and follow the rules set forth by the government. [continues 60 words]
Heroin use is such a huge issue in our country; it seems to be the drug of choice for most people in today's world. In Pueblo alone, we had seven deaths as a result of overdoses on heroin in 2014; in 2015, we had nine deaths on top of the 13 homicides in our city. When will we see that we cannot treat addicts like hardened criminals? Addiction should be treated like a disease. Our main focus should be the rehabilitation of people who have been led astray. When someone is rehabilitated, they can take back their life, everything the drug has taken away. We have all seen how addiction tears families apart. Everyone hurts when someone they love abuses drugs. [continues 129 words]
Steamboat Springs - Armed with a stack of photos, research, statistics and zoning maps, the operators of a local marijuana business on Tuesday will try to convince at least one more Steamboat Springs City Council member to let them move into a more visible spot between a restaurant and a liquor store. The hearing on Natural Choice's proposal to move to Curve Plaza in west Steamboat is a do-over for council. Whatever the council decides is poised to be controversial. [continues 549 words]
The fines levied against marijuana businesses through the county's enforcement division are helping homeless people who have become stranded in Pueblo. In an effort to help homeless get back to their places of origin, the Pueblo County commissioners voted Wednesday to give the Pueblo Area Law Enforcement Chaplains Corp. a $25,000 grant that would be used to help benefit homeless individuals without support in Pueblo County. Commissioner Sal Pace said the money for the grant comes from funding that the county has set aside from marijuana fine money to address homelessness and youth drug prevention. [continues 480 words]
Home groan Clint and Rebecca Lockwood rushed to City Hall when they heard Colorado Springs City Council was about to limit home grows to 12 plants, but Council had already adopted the ordinance. So they went home worried sick about their son, Calvin, who's severely autistic and relies on homemade CBD oil to keep his aggression under control. Without it, their home is hell. The Lockwoods say that, unmedicated, Calvin won't sleep, sweats, shakes, eats furniture, attacks his younger brother and bashes his head into the wall until he bleeds. [continues 800 words]
Colorado pot smokers are helping send 25 students to college, the first scholarships in the U.S. funded with taxes on legal marijuana. The awards offered by Pueblo County, in southern Colorado, are the latest windfall from legal Colorado marijuana sales that are also helping build schools and aid the homeless - and in one county, providing 8% raises to municipal workers. Pueblo County is granting $1,000 each to the students; recipients will be announced later this month. "It's incredible," said Beverly Duran, the executive director of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, which is overseeing the scholarships. "Every year we get a nice pool of students ... but we can always only award to a small percentage. This for us expands that to extraordinary lengths." [continues 221 words]
John Hickenlooper, Once a Leading Critic, Now Says the Industry Looks 'Like It Might Work.' Here's Why. DENVER - When Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana four years ago, one of the move's chief critics was Gov. John Hickenlooper. The moderate Democrat said that if he could "wave a magic wand" to reverse the decision, he would. Then he called voters "reckless" for approving it in the first place, a remark he later downgraded to "risky." "Colorado is known for many great things," Hickenlooper said. "Marijuana should not be one of them." [continues 636 words]
State's High- Grade Marijuana Is in Big Demand on Black Market DENVER - If you can dream up a way to smuggle marijuana out of Colorado, chances are someone else has already tried it: Cars and trucks. Potato chip bags and jars of peanut butter. The U. S. mail. Not even the sky is the limit: A pilot last year confessed he used his skydiving planes to deliver nearly a ton of pot to buyers in Texas and Minnesota, court records show. [continues 787 words]
Colorado's top prosecutors and police officials want a two-year moratorium on new marijuana laws to give officers time to catch up. In a letter dated last week and sent to lawmakers, leaders of the state's three main groups of law enforcement officials said local police "cannot keep up with the quantity and speed of constantly changing marijuana law." There have been 81 marijuana-related bills introduced in the Colorado legislature in just the past four years, according to the letter. [continues 145 words]
A school district board in El Paso County approved Thursday a policy to allow therapeutic marijuana products at its schools. The District 49 Board of Education, in Peyton, unanimously, in a five-to-zero vote, approved the "Compassionate Administration of Therapeutic Cannabinoid Products on District Property" policy, the district announced in a media release. The policy, known as "Jaxs' policy," was approved as part of a regularly scheduled monthly meeting and is the first of its kind in the state, according to the district. [continues 286 words]
The three sons of a woman shot to death in 2014 have filed what appears to be the country's first wrongful-death lawsuit against the recreational marijuana industry. The lawsuit claims that the company that made the marijuana edible and the store that sold the candy to Richard Kirk recklessly and purposefully failed to warn him about the bite-sized candy's potency and possible side effects - including hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors. Hours after Kirk purchased the marijuana candy April 14, 2014, Kristine Kirk, 44, called 911 terrified of her husband, who was ranting about the end of the world and jumping in and out of windows. All three of the couple's young sons heard the gunshot that killed their mother. Their youngest son, who was 7 at the time, watched his mother die, according to an amended complaint filed Monday night. [continues 1068 words]
In the first three months of 2016, Colorado pot shops sold more than $270 million of cannabis and related products, according to new figures from the state Department of Revenue. The state's latest data show that its marijuana shops sold nearly $90 million of cannabis in March. The licensed stores sold more than $55 million of recreational marijuana and more than $33 million of medical cannabis in March, the latest month for which the department has released tax data for the industry. Totals for retail and medical marijuana dipped slightly in March after a bustling February, which was the state's fifth-most-lucrative month for sales since they began in January 2014, according to the Cannabist's calculations and state data. [continues 222 words]
In the week leading up to the end of the Second Regular Session of the State Legislature, two major pieces of marijuana legislation met their fates. In the first week of May, a proposal to certify organic marijuana at the state level was rejected in a Senate committee by a vote of 4-3, while Jack's Law, a bill requiring Colorado schools to accommodate the use of non-smokeable medical marijuana by students, passed both the House and Senate. These bills are small, but significant pieces of legislation. They were necessitated by conflicts between state and federal laws concerning the rights of cannabis patients and consumers. [continues 571 words]
Dear Stoner: I have a metal pipe that I can unscrew and clean, and the other day I had a great idea: What if I put a nug in there to get nice and sticky after smoking a few bowls? Will it be more potent? JustBlaze Dear Blaze: Now I know why natives get so annoyed with transplants, because no one who grew up here would ever think of doing such a stupid thing. No offense. Yes, sticking a nug in a pipe while you smoke can be a jailhouse way of coaxing it to get you a little higher, but it comes at the cost of your tastebuds, lungs and brain cells. That black stuff that covers the inside of your pipe is basically tar with some THC in it. Smoking it gets you high, but it's not worth the damage it does to your lungs or brain cells while you're coughing for five minutes - and it tastes like Bigfoot's dick. [continues 324 words]
"The moratorium will not be extended" reads a line in the ordinance that the Colorado Springs City Council passed in late November, establishing a six-month moratorium on marijuana business licensing. Now, with that moratorium due to expire on May 25, Council is considering putting a new one in place - this time for a full year. "I hear what you're saying, 'It's not an extension; it's a whole new ordinance.' I got you," Speakeasy Vape Lounge owner and City Council hopeful Jaymen Johnson said to Council at its April 26 meeting. "It seems you guys have figured out the loophole thing just as well as the clubs did, so congratulations. Glad we could show you how it's done." [continues 804 words]
We are presenting this information in regard to the recent article that stated "Pueblo relies on our industry." Toward the end of the article, Dr. Richard Rivera stated, "Nothing shows that cannabis is a gateway drug." Most importantly, Dr. Rivera stated the following, "I believe from a health point of view, there are no health issues connected to cannabis use whatsoever." As health professionals concerned about the people of Pueblo, it is our responsibility to fully educate on risks associated with all drugs and in this case, marijuana. Is marijuana a gateway drug? A national study conducted by Robert Secades-Villa and his colleagues and published in the International Journal of Drug Policy revealed 44.7 percent of individuals with lifetime cannabis use progressed to other illicit drug use. [continues 287 words]
I find it interesting that Posada and some other nonprofits continue to try and connect homelessness with the cannabis industry. It's not far-fetched to see that Posada and these other nonprofits are the enablers of homelessness. You can go to Posada on any given day and Ann Stateleman will give you a handout. If that doesn't work go see Rose Mertz at the Salvation Army for a handout, but if your still unsuccessful, then try Care and Share, the Soup Kitchen, Wayside Mission, commodities,social services and the list goes on. [continues 220 words]
Ten people control nearly 20 percent of the 1,046 marijuana business licenses in Denver, and those owners have built their empires largely through acquisitions of smaller operations. With new industry caps on grow-facility and store locations in Denver, consolidation by the big players is likely to intensify. Some independent owners say tax and regulatory burdens make it difficult for smaller pot businesses to survive. Vail's largest commercial developer. An owner of a car-detail shop. A former nonprofit event planner. A businessman who made a fortune in child car seats. A one-time Subway franchisee bankrupted by real estate losses. [continues 1165 words]
I am, unfortunately, glad to see all the coverage of the heroin epidemic in The Pueblo Chieftain and on Channels 5 and 13. We do need to keep this front and center. I do have a few minor corrections to the story in Sunday's (May 1's) paper. I am a retired ER doctor, not an addiction specialist. And, I think Access Point Pueblo is serving well under half of the people who inject drugs in Pueblo. I base this on conversations I have every week with people who are accessing the exchange and who tell me they know a lot of people who still cannot bring themselves to take a chance on us and who tell us they are obtaining syringes for a lot of others who are afraid to come. And those are just the needle users. [continues 248 words]
I read with some dismay that the Legislature and a list of honorable patrons are going to spend $900,000 of taxpayer dollars for cannabis research at Colorado State University-Pueblo. And The Pueblo Chieftain is so pleased. How about that money going to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office to offset the costs of all the pot busts that are going on in Pueblo West and the county. Why doesn't the Chieftain go to CSU-Pueblo on a Saturday night and do its own study (free)? [continues 86 words]
Dear Stoner: Why doesn't Colorado have Amsterdam-style cafes? I remember reading about pot clubs trying to come to Denver. Cole Dear Cole: Colorado doesn't have cafes like the cannabis coffee shops in Amsterdam because of this state's stance on public consumption. Although it's legal to smoke pot in private areas in Colorado, public spots and businesses are still off limits. And while technically it's also illegal to consume marijuana in public in Amsterdam, Dutch law enforcement looks the other way when it comes to designated coffee shops. Sadly, our local cops aren't as cool: There are a few pot clubs in the Denver metro area that operate as private establishments and only allow members in to consume, but they still face regular harassment by law enforcement and other officials. Rigs 4 Us, a Denver smoke shop located in a private residence, was shut down on 4/20 when it tried to give out free dabs, and multiple pot clubs in Denver were shut down in 2015. [continues 282 words]
Sued in Pueblo A Pueblo resident is suing to roll back a ballot initiative that's trying to roll back retail pot in the county. That initiative, pushed by a group called Citizens for a Healthy Pueblo, is unconstitutional according to the complaint filed this week in district court asking for injunctive relief. Local attorney Dan Oldenburg and tree-services company owner Kenny Gierhart filed for a petition on April 8. Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert "Bo" Ortiz certified it a few days later, saying they'd need signatures from 5 percent of registered county voters to make it onto the ballot. The question asks voters if they want to ban retail marijuana facilities, including cultivation, infused-product manufacturing, testing and stores. [continues 671 words]
The Industry Is Intensifying Its Battle Against Pesticide Rules. The Colorado marijuana industry is stepping up its fight against the state's efforts to regulate the application of pesticides on cannabis. After passing in the state House, a bill that would have codified Gov. John Hickenlooper's November executive order - telling state agencies that any marijuana grown with unapproved pesticides is a threat to public safety and should be removed from commerce and destroyed-died in a state Senate committee last week. [continues 632 words]
Pueblo Hospitals Have Joined a Petition Drive to Stop Recreational Marijuana Sales. Dr. Steven Simerville worries about the number of babies being born in Pueblo with marijuana in their bodies. The medical director of the newborn intensive care unit at St. Mary- Corwin Medical Center finds that mothers who abhor smoking cigarettes during pregnancy see no harm in smoking a joint. "What I'm seeing in our nursery is a dramatic increase in babies who test positive for marijuana," he said. "The interesting thing for me is the number of mothers who use marijuana and want to breast feed. They don't believe marijuana is harmful." [continues 560 words]
County Ran into City Pushback on Authority to Levy on a Single Product Adams County's voter-sanctioned special tax on recreational marijuana sales, which went into effect last summer, was no easy thing. Three cities - Northglenn, Aurora and Commerce City - sued the county, claiming that it didn't have the authority under state law to levy a tax on a single product. Coupled with their own municipal taxes on pot, they argued that an additional county levy would put retail pot stores in their jurisdictions at a competitive disadvantage to others. [continues 304 words]
Fourth Corner Forges on in Bid to Be State's First Credit Union for Pot The Fourth Corner Credit Union on Friday appealed a lower court's ruling that denied its bid to become the first Colorado credit union for the marijuana industry. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in January dismissed Fourth Corner's suit seeking a master account with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Jackson said granting access to the Federal Reserve's network would "facilitate criminal activity" because marijuana remains illegal under federal law. [continues 447 words]
Congress and President Obama are under pressure to reschedule marijuana. While rescheduling makes sense, it wouldn't fix the broken scheduling system. Ideally, marijuana reform should be part of a broader bill rewriting the Controlled Substances Act. The Controlled Substances Act created a five-category scheduling system for most legal and illegal drugs (although alcohol and tobacco were notably omitted). Depending on what category a drug is in, the drug is either subject to varying degrees of regulation and control (Schedules II through V) - or completely prohibited (Schedule I). The scheduling of various drugs was decided largely by Congress and absent a scientific process - with some strange results. [continues 376 words]
The Legislation Lets Visitors to the State Buy As Much As Residents. Colorado's tourists would be able to buy as much marijuana as residents if a bill moving through the legislature passes. The measure repeals Colorado's unique-in-the-nation tiered purchasing system for marijuana. All adults over 21 are allowed to possess an ounce of marijuana - but retail pot shops can't sell more than a quarter-ounce in one day to people without Colorado identification. The purchasing limits were established in 2013 to prevent marijuana diversion out of state. [continues 209 words]
Job Could Be One of Highest-Paid in State Government State health officials want to hire someone to keep an eye on marijuana legalization - at potentially one of the highest salaries in state government. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is advertising a position for a "marijuana health effects and research manager." The job will involve monitoring the health consequences of legalization; gathering data from hospitals, emergency rooms and poison control centers; and helping to lead an advisory committee that produces a report on legalization's outcomes. [continues 270 words]
Dear Stoner: Why did the annual 4/20 rally (the one with Lil Wayne and Wiz, canceled on April 16) have to jump through so many obstacles for a permit, but the stoner fest at Civic Center on April 20 was just fine? Scott Dear Scott: The Official 4/20 Rally isn't just a group of potheads coming together; it comes with vendor booths, food carts and musical performances, and it requires tickets to get in, with some of the VIP tickets costing significant amounts of money. Because of all those commercial factors, the City of Denver considers it a "special event," so the event's organizers must register with the city for permits to hold the rally at Civic Center Park every year. And it's not just one or two permits that are needed: After notifying the surrounding neighborhood of the event, organizers must obtain permits from the Denver Fire Department, the Denver Police Department, Excise and Licenses and the Department of Environmental Health - and that's just the first four, with more to go after that. Unfortunately for everyone on April 16, Mother Nature doesn't issue permits. [continues 251 words]
From page 2A In March, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed Senate Bill 15, which reforms how pesticides can be used on marijuana. The original rules simply included a list of which pesticides could be legally used to grow marijuana. This new legislation instead provides a list of criteria that all pesticides must pass in order to be legally used to grow marijuana. The interesting thing about this legislation is not exactly what it entails, but how quickly it traveled through the legal process to become law. It was introduced in the Colorado Senate on Jan. 13 and by March 9 the bill was signed and made law. This shows that when legislation is very bipartisan, it can quickly travel through the bill process. Colorado is lucky that we have both parties' support to be a model state on how the legalization of marijuana should be done. Charles Bryce DeHaven, Littleton [end]
In addition to all the consumption-oriented festivities that went down on April 20, a march on City Hall brought a small but mighty crowd of medical marijuana supporters out to vent some frustrations. Their message? Leave our plants alone. Amendment 20 may have legalized medical marijuana back in 2000, but patients now feel their rights are under attack. That attack comes in the form of a proposed ordinance to limit all residences in the Springs to 12 marijuana plants total, period, no matter how many adults, patients or caregivers live there. [continues 520 words]
Nebraska and Oklahoma are trying again to overturn marijuana legalization in Colorado, this time by asking to intervene in an ongoing court case. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a proposed lawsuit brought against Colorado by the two states, leaving the states without a court to hear their complaints. Earlier this month, Nebraska and Oklahoma responded by asking to be added to a case at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. That case is the consolidation of two separate appeals filed by legalization opponents whose lawsuits were dismissed by a lower court. Nebraska and Oklahoma's motion means that all of the ongoing challenges against Colorado's legalization of marijuana have, for the moment, merged into a single court case. [continues 277 words]
This week the Colorado Secretary of State will hold the second hearing to discuss the Marijuana Initiative. Issues to be discussed are the potency, child proofing, labeling of potency of marijuana, and others. When we ask two questions: What will happen if these marijuana products are unregulated and what may happen if they are regulated? We see the answer to the first question as the marijuana industry brings us ever stronger and stronger products. The THC levels had an average of 12.6 percent THC in 2013 according to the National Drug Control Strategy. Post legalization of marijuana has brought us concentrates of 62.1 percent THC. Concentrates of marijuana in Colorado varies between 60-80 percent and rates as high as 95 percent has been observed. These unregulated potencies have and are now contributing to costly emergency room visits, hospitalization and traffic accidents and deaths. [continues 172 words]
"Councilman Don Knight told News 5 last month as the council voted for the ban that he didn't think the city was responsible for providing marijuana users a place to light up." Paging earth to Don Knight! No one requested the city to provide places for users to light up. That entire initiative was brought through private enterprise by citizens of our city. No city funding or interference is required. Robert Wheeler Colorado Springs [end]
Colorado kids are not smoking more pot since the drug became legal - but their older siblings and parents certainly are, according to a long-awaited report giving the most comprehensive data yet on the effects of the state's 2012 recreational-marijuana law. The state released a report Monday detailing changes in everything from pot arrests to tax collections to calls to Poison Control. Surveys given to middle-schoolers and high-schoolers indicate that youth marijuana use didn't rise significantly in the years after the 2012 vote. [continues 68 words]
Councilor Don Knight says military perceptions influence his strategy. City Councilor Don Knight says a phone call in September really put cannabis clubs on his radar. His constituent was complaining about My Club 420, which had moved into the Rockrimmon shopping center. "I found out through research there was no avenue at all for neighbors to have a voice on whether a club should go in their neighborhood or not," Knight told the Independent. "So I wanted to do something about that." [continues 565 words]
Steve DeFino is remarkably mellow for a guy with shrapnel still lodged in his body and memories of war on his mind. At the Dab Lounge on Circle Drive near Palmer Park Boulevard, a light haze drifts above the booths, about half of which are occupied on this weekday afternoon. A few dogs roam around, as do some pool balls on the newish table. "A year ago I couldn't do this," DeFino says, sitting on a stool in the back of the place where the arcade machines' bleeps and bloops weave into a soundtrack of '90s R&B. [continues 1931 words]
Hospitals and treatment centers in Colorado have seen an increase in marijuana use among patients since recreational pot became legal in January 2014, while weed-related arrests have predictably plummeted significantly, a report reveals. While the author of an 147-page study released by the Colorado Department of Public Safety on Monday cautions that it's too soon to measure perfectly the impact of the state's first-in-the-nation recreational marijuana laws, statistics suggest that facilities have seen a surge with respect to patients who were hospitalized after consuming cannabis. [continues 655 words]
A Report Is the State's First Try at Measuring Impact of Legalization. Colorado's treatment centers have seen a trend toward heavier marijuana use among patients in the years after the state legalized the drug, according to a new report from the state Department of Public Safety. The 143-page report released Monday is the state's first comprehensive attempt at measuring and tracking the consequences of legalization. In 2014, more than a third of patients in treatment reported near-daily use of marijuana, according to the report. In 2007, less than a quarter of patients reported such frequency of use. [continues 585 words]
We were somewhere north of Denver, not far from the pot farm, when my neighbor on the party bus pulled hard on his pipe and said: "Know what it is I love about this country? Everyone gets stoned." He was a big, bearded fellow who had come up from his cattle ranch in Kansas, and though he didn't seem like the usual type for a cannabis foodie tour, I felt that he was right. After all, with us on the bus that afternoon was a Whitmanesque array of stoned Americans. There they were, puffing blunts beneath the blinking purple lights: a gay couple from Rhode Island, some multiethnic techies from Atlanta, a rowdy group of white dudes who'd just flown in from Houston for a bachelor party and a 60-year-old Boston mother with a beach house in the Hamptons. Everyone gets stoned. [continues 3195 words]
Illicit Pot Increasingly Is Being Grown in Homes and Shipped Out of State. Authorities say organized crime elements with out-of-state ties increasingly are using Colorado homes to grow large amounts of marijuana illegally for transport and sale across the nation. About 30 locations, many of them homes, were targeted in raids on Thursday by authorities searching for illegal marijuana operations. The uptick in these so-called "pirate grows" has become a priority for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, who have dedicated resources to quashing the trend. [continues 937 words]
Dear Stoner: I want to celebrate Denver's biggest unofficial holiday on 4/20. Do you have any advice? Gone Ganja Dear Ganja: Our day of gathering is upon us, but 4/20 in Denver has become much more than a simple day of heavy blazing now that Colorado's economy has gone green. While many of us will be enjoying a blunt bigger than Dikembe Mutombo's fingers, it's important to see through the dabs and kush smoke to celebrate responsibility and not forget what it took to get here - and how far we still have to go. [continues 391 words]
"I wake up every day and I still can't believe I'm selling marijuana," Ieshia Jiron says, reflecting on the past year she's been working at Leaf on the Mesa, a medical and recreational dispensary in downtown Pueblo. She spent nearly two decades working at Target, then some time dabbling in real estate until some friends approached her to help get the new business off the ground. "We were sitting on buckets then, but business really took off," she says. "It's been amazing." [continues 667 words]
Schools in Colorado would be required to allow parents to provide medical marijuana treatment to their children on school grounds under a bill that won approval in a state legislative committee Monday. House Bill 1373 gives school districts the authority to write policies limiting where on campus the treatment could take place or what forms of cannabis can be administered. If the district fails to create a policy, parents or private caregivers would have no limitations on where they could administer the treatment, said state Rep. Jonathan Singer, a Longmont Democrat who is the bill's sponsor. [continues 117 words]
DENVER (AP) - Schools in Colorado would be forced to allow students to use medical pot under a bill that cleared its first hurdle Monday at the state Legislature. The bill updates a new law that gives school districts the power to permit medical marijuana treatments for students under certain conditions. Patient advocates call the law useless because none of Colorado's 178 school districts currently allows such use. The bill cleared a House committee Monday on a vote of 10 to 3 and now awaits a vote by the full House. [continues 191 words]
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]
Inside Colorado
