Illness and changes that occur in the brain all can be factors in why some people get addicted to drugs and alcohol, a top national researcher said in an Aspen Institute Spotlight Health seminar Saturday. There is a common belief that people become addicted to something because they enjoy the feeling they get from it, but the biological process of losing control over one's behavior is more complex than that, said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a session titled "oeThe Biology of Addiction - Why Do We Get Hooked?" [continues 378 words]
Gov. John Hickenlooper took an amazing, bold step forward that could have lost him his election but definitely saved our taxpayers millions in court costs. Do we really want to have the expense of processing small marijuana cases? In the time of "The Great Gatsby" (my darling 82-year-old mom's time), a couple of martinis were just right on. Now, she thinks marijuana is a drug like heroin. And in the interim, many cancer patients and other patients with pain (like my 86-year-old dad) find relief from it. [continues 56 words]
A recent editorial in The Aspen Times ("Marijuana clubs belong in Aspen," Commentary, July 25) suggests that the City Council approve pot clubs. While I do support the current marijuana laws at this time, the pot-club idea is foolish and shortsighted. Most shocking in the editorial is the call to create Aspen's identity as one of a pot culture. The identity of Aspen has evolved over the years from the history of its people, culture, environment, architecture and outdoor activities. [continues 339 words]
Just what is the Aspen brand? It's a question that often arises when city leaders, image-conscious because of the high stakes involved, wrestle with Aspen's latest dilemma of the day. For sure, super wealth and world-class skiing are the hallmarks of today's Aspen brand. That '60s and '70s funky, creative Aspen brand? Those days are long gone, but Aspen leaders and observers sometimes cling to the notion that they still are reflected here in the longtime locals, older homes and lodges, and the long-standing business establishments that have managed to survive over the decades. [continues 391 words]
The lines started forming during the week of the Food & Wine Classic and haven't slowed down since then. Aspen's recreational marijuana shops have been booming since the tourist season kicked into high gear in June. According to Hunter Beaudreau, an employee at Green Dragon Aspen, recreational sales have at least doubled in the past month. "We were slammed when we first opened here in March," Beaudreau said. "Our recreational sales were good and have only gotten better with all the tourists in town. For the recreational customers, the experience of buying pot seems more important than the prices." [continues 919 words]
The session was titled "Is Big Marijuana the Next Big Tobacco?" at the Aspen Ideas Festival's focus on health Thursday night, but the two featured speakers insisted there is no question. Ben Cort, of the Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation in Denver, and Kevin Sabet, director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida, predicted that Colorado will rue the day it approved Amendment 64 to legalize marijuana use. They contended before a crowd at Belly Up that big business already is moving in on Colorado's marijuana business, and its marketing expertise will get kids and young adults hooked on pot. [continues 441 words]
The recent passing of a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill allowing agricultural hemp to be grown in certain states presents an exciting new opportunity for the Roaring Fork Valley and rural surroundings. Now for the first time since World War II, it's legal to grow industrial hemp in Colorado, and many farmers already have planted their first crops. Hemp is the non-psychoactive version of the cannabis plant. It is not marijuana. It's a versatile, sustainable, economically profitable agricultural crop that is grown in thirty countries. China is the biggest producer of hemp, and the U.S. is the largest importer. [continues 207 words]
On May 15, 1990, the Board of County Commissioners of Pitkin County approved the formation of the Woody Creek Caucus. The function of the caucus is to make recommendations to the county commissioners in matters directly affecting the caucus area. On Oct. 31, 2013, the Woody Creek Caucus voted 91 to 7 to deny the application of the Radtkes' proposed 19,000 square feet of marijuana greenhouses in two separate pods to be installed at 2520 Lower River Road with additional square footage on the east side of the road. Since the commissioners approved the formation of the Woody Creek Caucus, it seems only logical they listen and take to heart the results. [continues 395 words]
As the owner of Green Essentials in Glenwood Springs and soon-to-open Aspen Green Dragon dispensaries, there are some facts that need to be brought to the public's attention. People who are misinformed are providing information as fact, causing an unnecessary public outcry over the greenhouses we propose to erect in Woody Creek for a medical marijuana grow. Most of what is being spread is beyond misinformation and borders on lies, exaggerations and embellishment. This is a clean use of the land that fits the character of the area. The greenhouse uses natural light and organic nutrients. There are no grow lights and it is a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional grows in the area. There will be no high-intensity lights glowing brightly in the night. The proposal is being modified, recessing the greenhouses into the ground, lowering the height from 16 feet to 12 feet. [continues 392 words]
The city of Aspen's recently passed pot regulations don't address open marijuana smoking on private property, according to the officials who crafted the new rules. Basically, that's because at this point, the city doesn't believe the pot users, whether locals or visitors, will get out of hand. Therefore, it is OK for people to smoke in the comfort of their own yards, fenced or not, as well as their balconies, rooftops and patios. The city's law prohibits open smoking on public property, such as sidewalks, streets, parks and alleys. [continues 672 words]
As a part-time resident, it pains me to see the stronghold that the dopers have taken on a place that I hold so dear to my heart. The county commissioners are given a great responsibility to uphold the will of their constituents and to furthermore uphold the well-being of the community that they serve. Is everyone taking the pot? "Greenhouse" they say; "crackhouse," I say. The master plan of getting everyone hooked on reefers seems to be working. Why else would these drug lords need to build bigger facilities? They have created a population of addicts and now they are helping everyone "cop their fix." Does the government think they are going to see a penny in tax dollars from these hopped-up pushers posing as "businessmen"? These supposed tax dollars would go to schools? [continues 92 words]
Greed, gluttony and dominance are not attractive words, although they ring with a beauty that makes their meanings unmistakable. The three words don't necessarily go together unless one contemplates the ubiquitous reach of our government and then a certain connection can be made, particularly in the latest marijuana melee that is eating up a lot of headline ink. "Legalization of marijuana" seems to be the frenzied cry, although that title can be misleading. If using THC-laden plants were truly legal, we wouldn't be struggling with how to tax and control it. Anyway you cut it, and like other illegal drugs, marijuana's still a "controlled substance," just by the very nature of the laws we're creating to control it. The advantage, I suppose, is that with marijuana's "legalization," you might not rot in jail the next 20 years for sucking up a toke or two. [continues 620 words]
I'm sorry but I've gotta ask: How can an elected official like Matt Mead, governor of Wyoming, be stupid enough to not only say something so ignorant - "My belief is that the recreational drug use of marijuana in Colorado will have an adverse impact to some degree, we don't know yet, to citizens in Wyoming. And that is a concern." Where the hell has he been all his life ? Pot has been used by cowboys, card dealers, train robbers, Native Americans, beatniks and hippies, along with heroin, since before the turn of the century before last! [continues 70 words]
Dear Editor: Regarding Rick Carroll's column ("Why all of the pot paranoia?" Sept. 3, The Aspen Times), The Obama administration is to be commended for giving Colorado the green light to tax and regulate marijuana. There is absolutely no justification for the status quo. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. [continues 53 words]
A woman spotted my 2-year-old daughter and me entering the Port-O-Potty she'd just left at the Journey concert in Snowmass on Sunday night and warned me, "You'd better not take your little girl in there." "Oh, mercy," I thought, shuddering to imagine what she was implying, and knowing full well that each time I enter a public outhouse, it's a voyage into the unknown. "It smells like pot. But it wasn't me," she said and sauntered off. [continues 536 words]
Aspen City Attorney Jim True said Wednesday that he soon will suggest that the City Council hold a work session this month or in July on whether and how to regulate recreational pot stores in Aspen. True said there is no hurry because under state law, businesses cannot apply to become retail pot shops until Oct. 1. The state Department of Revenue is still writing rules based on legislation recently passed the Colorado General Assembly. Legislators took up a host of marijuana-related issues during their January-to-May session after voters across the state in November passed Amendment 64, which seeks to have marijuana regulated in the same manner as alcohol. [continues 651 words]
Maybe because he's a self-professed hardcore stoner for more than 30 years that legitimized him, but a guy wrote a guest piece in The Denver Post the other day about the legalization of pot in Colorado that explained in a few sentences what I haven't been able to say clearly in about five years. He said it so calmly. He didn't waste words. It was like an out-loud train of unconscious thought, but it made sense to me, y'all. I wish I'd written down his name, but I wasn't really motivated. No worries. Let me summarize what he said: It's not going to work. [continues 660 words]
[name redacted] Pleads Guilty To Reduced Charges ASPEN - An Aspen man arrested in December on drug-possession and drunken-driving charges told a judge Monday that he regards the incident as a "life changing" moment. [name redacted], 45, also said he plans to stay "clean and sober" and work on rebuilding the trust he had established as a community volunteer and teacher at Aspen Middle School. "I just want to apologize to everybody affected by my poor decisions," [name redacted] said. [continues 471 words]
Local business owners ponder implications of Amendment 64 ASPEN -- While Colorado voters mull the outright legalization of marijuana when they head to the polls next week, some local business owners are taking a particularly keen interest in the ramifications of Amendment 64. They're already selling marijuana of the medical variety. Amendment 64, which would let adults possess limited quantities of pot and buy it from state-regulated outlets, could be a game changer in many respects. "I don't really know what's going to happen. I don't think anybody does," said Jordan Lewis, owner of Silverpeak Apothecary in downtown Aspen. [continues 1072 words]
Dear Editor: As a member of the Board of Trustees for the town of Carbondale, I believe it is my responsibility to carefully consider how each ballot measure affects our community. After reading and reflecting on the failures of our nation's drug policy, I am announcing my endorsement of Amendment 64. I also am speaking for myself and as the father of a teenage girl and not for the Carbondale Board of Trustees. Amendment 64 should generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenues and law enforcement savings over the coming decade. The first $40 million raised annually is dedicated to fund public-school construction. Our schools need the new revenue, and this law funds schools without raising state income or property taxes. Regulating marijuana will take jobs away from cartels and give them to tax-paying Coloradans. Amendment 64 also will end the prohibition on farming industrial hemp, which has no psychoactive properties and can be used for paper, cloth, fuel and food. This opportunity will allow Colorado farmers to corner the market on this highly demanded agricultural crop. [continues 187 words]
