New data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that as of September 30, there were 102,592 patients active in the medical marijuana registry. That’s 26,000 fewer patients than the registry’s peak enrollment of 128,698 back in June — a decline of more than 20 percent…
Medical marijuana dispensaries have not only made Denver one of the most, um, medicated places in the United States; they’ve also made the Mile High one of the dankest-smelling cities in the nation. On some streets, the scent of cannabis can appear as just a faint whiff over the other…
This dispensary has closed. We’ve got a new college intern around here, and her youthful energy and endless fascination with all things cannabis remind me of my own college-age years. Back then, getting ounces of herb wasn’t as easy as walking down to the nearby dispensary. You had to be…
Last week, Harvard law nerd John Cochran made what some are calling one of the biggest blindsides in Survivor history by switching allegiances to teammates of the former Upolu Tribe. The move didn’t sit well with Denver dispensary owner Jim Rice, who called the rat-faced weasel a coward to his…
Talk about tiny treats that pack some heat. The Dr. J’s Lemon Poppy Seed label says just one muffin is infused with about 125 mg of hash, and each package contains two muffins. That’s 250 mg of green medicine per package. Seriously, 250 mg…
Yesterday, attorneys in California asked a court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop federal raids on pot dispensaries there. This request makes a slew of legal arguments, one of which pivots on the lack of such federal actions in Colorado — at least thus far. But as sympathetic…
This week, Fort Collins voters approved a medical marijuana retail ban. However, electorates in several other communities rejected similar measures, including Steamboat Springs and, most surprisingly, Palisade, a Western Slope burg surrounded by municipalities that have prohibitions in place. Why did Palisade prevail? Desa Loughman, co-owner of the only MMC…
Something about the name “The Kind Room” was subtle yet distinctively attractive, and the place has always stood out for that alone among the dozens of other shops along Broadway Broadsterdam’s main drag of dispensaries. Yes, I know, the name of an MMC is hardly a reason to visit the…
Veronica Carpio, former owner of 420 Highways, a dispensary we reviewed last year was busted Tuesday for an alleged $30,000 marijuana deal intended to send Colorado herb out of state. She also faces charges of using the U.S. Postal service to ship ganja to less green places…
A medical marijuana retail ban passed in Fort Collins this week — but a number of municipalities rejected attempts at prohibition, including Steamboat Springs, Oak Creek and Routt County, which encompasses them. Why the difference? Here’s what Ryan Fisher, co-owner of Steamboat’s Rocky Mountain Remedies, told us…
After weeks of everyone deservedly picking on nerdy law student Cochran for being a scrawny weakling ginger that didn’t contribute much of anything to the team (including this medical marijuana critic), he finally snapped like a freckled twig and completely changed the game for Denver dispensary owner Jim Rice and…
A year ago, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment was so backlogged with medical-marijuana license applications that patients had to wait as long as eight months after filing paperwork before they got their red cards. And now, as this bubble of patients rises to the surface to renew…
Update: Steve Ackerman, president of the Fort Collins Medical Cannabis Association and owner of the Organic Alternatives dispensary, notes that the final count in a vote to ban MMJ retail operations in his hometown won’t be released until noon today. However, he sounds resigned to defeat and plenty shell-shocked. “I’m…
Now that a dispensary ban has passed in Fort Collins, patients there will either have to go elsewhere for their medical marijuana or sign up with a caretaker who’s ostensibly limited to six plants per person. But attorney Rob Corry says this limit isn’t hard and fast — and as…
Update below: Last week’s reports from industry sources that Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division director Dan Hartman would be leaving his post have now been confirmed. However, Hartman’s not out of a job. He’s been reassigned within the Department of Revenue, with another Revenue veteran, Laura Harris, taking over for him…
Yesterday, we previewed a media event during which advocates asked that Colorado Attorney General John Suthers sign an ethics pledge pertaining to future commentary on the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. But Suthers wasn’t in his office when the paperwork was presented, and he wouldn’t have signed it anyway, because…
Staring at a package with a BAKKED Chocolate Rice Crispy Treat inside is enough to make one’s mouth water. Then finding out that that treat apparently has a relatively high of THC packed inside? Talk about a happy little med patient — unless of course all that cannabis fails to…
At noon today, Mason Tvert and other Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act backers will stage an event at Attorney General John Suthers’s office. Why? Suthers feels a letter by (outgoing?) Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division head Dan Hartman published in places mulling MMJ retail-sales bans was unethical, even though Suthers himself…
Update: We’ve now received a response from Department of Revenue spokesman Mark Couch regarding persistent reports from multiple medical marijuana industry sources that Dan Hartman will depart as director of the state’s Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division at day’s end. Couch’s prepared statement doesn’t contradict our previous reporting, but neither does…
This dispensary has closed. Though the logo for the Medijuana Center — a Colorado license plate likeness with TMC branded on it — hasn’t changed in the year-plus I’ve been passing by it on my way home from the Westword offices, the management apparently has…
The ambiguously-named Medical Marijuana Workgroup met yesterday, and although the point was to create transparency between state and city officials and the medical marijuana center owners, the results were more akin to a big back-patting session for everyone involved…
Earlier this month, we reported that medical marijuana testing facility Full Spectrum Labs had shut down until the state can promulgate a specific MMJ research license. But CannLabs, which also does cannabis testing, is still open for business, and co-owner Genifer Murray is confident current licenses are more than adequate…
