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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Green cross-out Say goodbye to those green crosses hung outside medical marijuana centers in unincorporated El Paso County. According to the Board of County Commissioners, the ubiquitous signage was simply too confusing for clueless tourists. So early this month, they voted to ban them altogether. The fear, apparently, was that out-of-state tourists would confuse dispensaries for pharmacies, given that's what the signage means in Europe. Darryl Glenn proposed the resolution in January. "[They're] there but you don't even think about it," he said back then. "I believe it is important enough to potentially take action." [continues 485 words]
Lawmakers often give lip service to protecting minors from exposure to alcohol and drugs, but if they're sincere in this concern they will soon be able to show it. They can support a Colorado Senate bill that would apply the same standard to marijuana grown in a residence for medical use as exists for non-medical use. It's a simple concept, really. Amendment 64, which legalized personal possession and retail sale of marijuana in 2012, mandated that growing the plant had to take place "in an enclosed, locked space." And the legislature put that language into statute two years ago, saying that such a space could be the residence itself so long as no one under 21 lived at the address. [continues 349 words]
Denver City Council members want to replace a moratorium restricting the growth of the state's largest legal marijuana market with caps that they argue would protect saturated neighborhoods. In some ways, the upshot of setting location caps on dispensaries and grow houses-both citywide and within smaller geographic areas - would be similar to the recently expanded moratorium, which bars new players from entering the market. But supporters who are hammering out details, including how to set the limits, point to key differences: The caps would allow some new business owners to dive in without increasing the number of locations. They also would offer more protection to low-income neighborhoods with industrial areas that complain about cultivation odors. [continues 364 words]
DENVER - Nestled between a 7-Eleven and a store selling Broncos jerseys, the door to the generic-looking retail establishment is easy to miss. But once inside, the smell is unmistakable. At Euflora, tables are filled with glass containers of marijuana next to interactive tablets describing each strain ("sweet floral aroma," "intoxicatingly potent"). An array of marijuana-infused products beckon behind locked cases: from energy shots to sour gummies, brownies to bacon brittle. And if you're 21 or older, it's all legal to buy. [continues 1638 words]
When the state Senate in New Mexico this week considered a measure that would have asked voters whether to legalize marijuana, the debate inevitably became as much about Colorado as the lawmakers' home state. When making his case against the measure, Sen. William Sharer, a Republican from Farmington, pointed to Denver, where he said crime has increased since retail marijuana stores opened in the city in 2014. The measure ultimately failed, 24-17. Marijuana policy experts and Colorado officials urge caution when trying to grade legalization's impacts - which are the subject of debate all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where this week justices are scheduled to discuss a lawsuit over pot filed against Colorado by two neighboring states. But there is one thing that legalization supporters, opponents and neutrals within Colorado agree on: It's unlikely marijuana has much to do with Denver's recent uptick in crime, as Sharer suggested it did. [continues 406 words]
Parents of 2-Month-Old Girl in ICU Start Her Treatment A baby girl who began having life-threatening seizures within days of her birth is receiving hemp oil while in the neonatal intensive-care unit at Children's Hospital Colorado, her mother says. Amylea Faith Nunez's parents drove to Colorado Springs to buy the liquid form of marijuana last week after they say neurologists at Children's said they could give it to their daughter. The 2-month-old girl took her first dose Thursday froma tiny syringe her mother squirted into her mouth. [continues 305 words]
Learning Who Owns Colorado's Marijuana Businesses Is Not Easy. Colorado's marijuana business owners-nearly 1,200 of them-control a quickly growing and powerful industry that is approaching $1 billion in annual sales. Yet basic information about these entrepreneurs is not available to the public without paying hefty fees, in contrast to what is available about owners of other state-licensed businesses. The Marijuana Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue will disclose the names of those with ownership interests in more than 2,500 active medical and recreational marijuana licenses issued since 2014. [continues 1398 words]
Members of Colo. Group Say Pot Strengthens Faith CENTENNIAL, Colo. - As snow began to fall outside, Deb Button snuggled up on her couch, fired up a joint and spoke of the nature of Christ. "Even if Jesus didn't smoke weed, he'd still be a stoner," she said, exhaling a white cloud. Her kitten sniffed the air curiously. "Jesus was peaceful and loving. He went from house to house and was always accepted," she explained. "Only a stoner could do that." [continues 984 words]
A contingent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law-enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at the Lazy Lion cannabis club in Colorado Springs on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 26, according to Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Because of the ongoing nature of the investigation, I really can't say more," he tells the Independent. Contrary to indignant posts on the Lion's Facebook page, the feds did not "shut down the club." Nor is the club "going thru a remodel," as a paper sign hung on a chain-link fence bordering the club at 2502 E. Bijou St. had stated. [continues 386 words]
Members of Stoner Jesus Bible Study Say Pot Strengthens Their Faith As Snow Began to Fall Outside, Deb Button Snuggled Up on Her Couch, Fired Up a Joint and Spoke of the Nature of Christ. "Even If Jesus Didn't Smoke Weed, He'd Still Be a Stoner," She Said, Exhaling a White Cloud. Her Kitten Sniffed the Air Curiously. "Jesus Was Peaceful and Loving. He Went From House to House and Was Always Accepted," She Explained. "Only a Stoner Could Do That." [continues 966 words]
No matter how you feel about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, medically or recreationally, the legal change in status effectively enhanced the freedoms of adults in Colorado. It allowed individuals a choice where before they had none, at least within a lawful context. The conversation about whether or not that freedom should be extended nationally is largely an abstract and subjective consideration of right and wrong. But the question for states like Colorado is how that freedom is best managed amid all the practical considerations. [continues 552 words]
Pot Grown Legally Serves As Cover for Illegal Sales DENVER (AP) - Seeking a safe haven in Colorado's legal marijuana marketplace, illegal drug traffickers are growing weed among the state's sanctioned pot warehouses and farms, then covertly shipping it elsewhere and pocketing millions of dollars from the sale, according to law enforcement officials and court records consulted by The Associated Press. In one case, the owner of a sky diving business crammed hundreds of pounds of Colorado pot into his planes and flew the weed to Minnesota, where associates allegedly sold it for millions of dollars in cash. In another, a Denver man was charged with sending more than 100 pot-filled FedEx packages to Buffalo, N.Y., where drug dealers divvied up the shipment. Twenty other drug traffickers, many from Cuba, were accused of relocating to Colorado to grow marijuana that they sent to Florida, where it can fetch more than double the price in a legal Colorado shop. [continues 833 words]
Migraines can hamper productivity when they strike, but for the first time, Colorado researchers have proof that medical marijuana can help ease that dreadful pain. "We were not expecting the decrease in frequency in migraine that we saw. It was pretty dramatic," said Dr. Sarah Anderson with Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Researchers at CU Anschutz looked at dozens of charts from patients treated at Gedde Whole Health, a private Colorado clinic that prescribes medical marijuana for a variety of ailments. [continues 183 words]
Three roommates who grew medical marijuana are suing two law enforcement agencies after their rural Conifer home was raided "military-style" with armored vehicles, machine guns and flash grenades. A year after the raid, none of the three has been charged with a crime, and they have received minimal response from Denver police and Jefferson County sheriff's officials about why they confiscated $70,000, 28 firearms and a pickup, their attorney said. "We have heard pretty much silence from the authorities on our requests for further information," said Rob Corry, an attorney with The Cannabis Law Firm. "Our clients are innocent of any criminal wrongdoing whatsoever. This is a significant amount of property and they'd like to get it back." [continues 197 words]
Dear Stoner: Can you list some shops that have a good selection of edibles? Also, can you recommend something to eat along with edibles so that they have the full effect? Gracias! Bar Hopper 62 Dear Bar Hopper: I go to a new dispensary every week for my Strain Gang review, and rarely see a shop that doesn't have some combination of candies, baked goods and drinks. But if you're looking for something beyond that, I have a few recommendations. Pure Medical Dispensary, which has three shops in Denver, sells infused olive oil and honey if you want to cook your own edibles or sex up your morning tea and toast. Rocky Mountain High makes its own line of gourmet edibles, so if you enjoy fresh cake pops and chocolate truffles or prefer something quick, like medicated breath spray, check out one of Rocky Mountain's four Denver dispensaries. And to help tame an impending gut bomb from hot wings or rib tips, go to Medicine Man Medical Market in Glendale for infused Buffalo and barbecue sauces. The place also sells infused apple butter and hot cocoa mix. [continues 240 words]
Not for kids If you're under 18, don't get caught with marijuana paraphernalia in Colorado Springs. You could face harsher punishment here than anywhere else in the state. On Tuesday, City Council adopted an ordinance that imposes a maximum fine of $500 on minors found in possession of paraphernalia, broadly defined to include "equipment, products or materials of any kind which are used, intended for use or designed for use in propagating, manufacturing, compounding, converting, production, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, inhaling or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body." The new local law reiterates a state law passed in 2014, but with added teeth at the recommendation of local law enforcement, prosecutors and the municipal court. [continues 465 words]
Raymond Schwab, an honorably discharged veteran, moved to Colorado last year to get medical marijuana treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. He didn't expect Kansas would take his children in return. "They're basically using my kids as a pawn to take away freedoms I fought for," he said. "It's a horrible position to put me in." He and his wife, Amelia, say Kansas took the five youngest of their six children into custody in April, and they've seen them only three times since. [continues 490 words]
Bulls and buds Early last month, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management sent out a 45-page investment report on the medical marijuana industry, which it estimates as being worth $2.9 billion nationwide. Merrill Lynch's conclusions fall especially "bullish on the cannabis testing market," which ML conservatively forecasts could grow to between $50 million and $100 million by 2020 as more states legalize. That's not a huge surprise. ML's report dedicates a fair amount of space to potential cannabis-based medicines that treat illnesses without getting people high. The report name-drops Charlotte's Web, the nearly THC-free Colorado cultivar and CNN darling that helped legitimize marijuana as medicine across the nation. [continues 336 words]
At first glance, the concentration of Denver's marijuana facilities in the city's poorer neighborhoods is startling, as shown in a revealing graphic appearing in The Sunday Denver Post. As reporters David Migoya and Ricardo Baca noted, such facilities have sprouted in large numbers in neighborhoods such as "Elyria Swansea, Globeville and Northeast Park Hill in north Denver, and Overland to the south," as well as along the Interstate 25 and Santa Fe Drive corridors. No wonder some community leaders and politicians are expressing concern. [continues 265 words]
As I read the articles in your "Cannabis in Colorado" series, I became aware that little research has been completed by people who are supposed to be experts. Asked whether marijuana legalization has been worth it, Professor Mark A.R. Kleiman of New York University told interviewers to "come back in 10 years," preceded by a "droll chuckle." Dr. Larry Wolk, head of Colorado's public health department, stated: "There is really no significant data yet to demonstrate that there is increased use among adults or teens." And our good governor stops short of saying whether legalization, overall, is positive or negative. [continues 160 words]
Towns That Sell Pot Can Rankle the Neighbors That Don't Log Lane Village - An interesting David-and-Goliath dynamic is taking shape across Colorado's burgeoning commercial cannabis sector, with tiny communities friendly to the sale of recreational marijuana living in the shadow of large - and totally potshop-free - neighbors. Manitou Springs, just a few miles from Colorado Springs, is the only place within a reasonable distance of the state's second-largest city where you can buy recreational weed. On the Eastern Plains, Log Lane Village plays the same role vis-a-vis Fort Morgan, a city 10 times its size. [continues 1804 words]
Cannabis opponents' victory in the high-profile racketeering lawsuit may open up others in the industry to potential liability under RICO. A high-profile racketeering lawsuit against a proposed Summit County marijuana shop and companies that did its banking, bonding and accounting settled in U.S. District Court this month - a substantial victory for cannabis opponents hoping to stun legalization efforts in America. The lawsuit, filed by the anti-drug group Safe Streets Alliance on behalf of the Holiday Inn hotel in Frisco, focused on property owners' rights under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. It claimed the hotel's business suffered because of Medical Marijuana of the Rockies' plans to move its shop into a building across the parking lot from the hotel. [continues 537 words]
Accidental Marijuana Entrepreneurs Find a Career in the Industry. Ridgway - Eric Jacobson scoops up a handful of rich soil. The largest organic marijuana grow on the Western Slope soon will take root in this dirt. "Perfect sandy loam," he says, kicking through snow a few yards from the gurgling Uncompahgre River. "You don't dare build homes on this. There's a higher and better use for this land than 3acre ranchettes." If you told Jacobson a decade ago that he'd be emerging as one of Colorado's top marijuana entrepreneurs, the father of three and longtime hydroelectric power plant developer would have laughed and said something like: "Only if everything in my life has gone horribly awry." [continues 1238 words]
