Lawmakers charged with crafting legislation to regulate recreational cannabis use in Colorado have extended their meetings by one week — but they say they should have a final set of proposals for the legislature April 8. Why was the original date of March 29 set aside? A big reason has…
In a Monday interview with Representative Rhonda Fields, co-sponsor of the latest THC driving bill, we noted that the measure, which is similar to ones that failed the past two years, seemed on a steady march to passage this time around — and that continues to be the case. The…
Yesterday we told you about HB 1114, the THC DUI bill, which is headed to the floor of the House, where it could come up for approval as early as this week before being sent off to the Senate. While that and the pending legislation surrounding Amendment 64 are hot…
As we’ve reported, legislation to set THC driving standards in Colorado has failed twice before. However, a new version that also tweaks alcohol DUI rules won unanimous approval during its first House committee hearing in late February. Momentum for the bill has not flagged in the month-plus since then. Today,…
Though cannabis paranoia was alive and well years before this 1921 article was written, marijuana use was still dubbed a “new menace” facing people living along the Mexican border. According to this report, found in the Telluride Daily Journal, pot was thought to be a menace as great as opium…
Same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization aren’t natural bedfellows, as it were. But do the topics have more in common than seems obvious at first blush? Jonathan Rauch thinks so. In a new Brookings Institution study on view below in its entirety, he maintains that just as states have the right…
Wellness Center of Denver is probably the closest dispensary I’ve found to the dispensary-less wasteland that is Aurora. Due to their proximity to A-Town, the folks there really didn’t need to do much more than set up a cash register and fill some jars with warehouse buds. Instead, they’ve opted…
The group that organized opposition to Amendment 64, which allows adults to use and possess small amounts of marijuana, was called Smart Colorado. Now, a new organization by the same name has been created to lobby legislators tackling legislation required to enact the measure, with a bill expected to be…
Dear Stoner: I went to my friend’s house who is growing now and asked to see his plants. He said they were “sleeping,” and I wasn’t allowed in the room. Has he just smoked so much that he thinks his plants sleep? Non Toker Dear NT: Marijuana relies on the…
The active patient numbers for Colorado’s medical marijuana community crept slightly higher in January, to 108,656 people, but any significant growth was offset by a pattern of people dropping off the registry each month. Although 2,911 new-patient applications were turned in between December 2012 and this past January, the number…
The Amendment 64 task force recommended allowing out of staters to buy cannabis in Colorado — and if the legislature agrees, the decision would open the door to pot tourism. But the folks behind a company called My 420 Tours aren’t waiting for lawmakers to sign off. They’re actively promoting…
The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division, which is charged with overseeing dispensaries and other MMJ-related enterprises, has been among the state’s most beleaguered institutions for years. Note the big staff cuts last April and the September announcement that no appointments would be available until February. Even so, the damning nature of…
We’ve just learned about the death of Damien LaGoy, who became one of the most public advocates for medical marijuana patients like himself. Opponents of medical marijuana tend to characterize MMJ patients as twenty-something slackers who merely want an excuse to get high, but LaGoy contradicted that image. He had…
Marijuana lawyer Rob Corry has spent years critiquing, and often ripping apart, pot-related legislation. Note his line-by-line shredding of the original 2010 medical-marijuana regulatory draft and a companion measure about the relationship between doctors and MMJ patients or his 2011 letter to lawmakers about that year’s THC driving bill. His…
I’ve been thinking for the past few weeks that I would take up golf this spring. I don’t know why I suddenly like the idea of paying someone so I can walk around a field for hours going from cup to cup, but given the enjoyable outdoor temperatures recently, I…
Thanks to Amendment 64, industrial hemp is on its way to becoming a legitimate crop in Colorado. Tonight in Loveland, hemp industry bigwigs will gather to discuss how hemp is grown and processed, the market for the crop and what farmers interested in growing it can expect. (For instance, hemp…
Four years and multiple court battles later, the medical marijuana dispensary known as Cannamart has finally won approval to do business in Littleton. The shop still has more hoops ahead of it, including the Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division licensing process. But Cannamart attorney Bob Hoban is optimistic that things are…
Dear Stoner: I’ve never tried marijuana, but lately my pot-smoking brother-in-law has been hanging out at our house with his stash, and I’ve been thinking of taking a toke or two with him. Any pointers for my first time? Newby Nate Dear Nate: While I’m sure your brother-in-law would love…
A Colorado House bill that would create a marijuana responsible-vendor program in the state moved through a second Senate reading Monday without any amendments, paving the way to final approval on a third reading. If passed — which seems likely at this point — HB 1061 would allow the state…
Should a glass of wine be considered proof of alcoholism? If a child sees a parent sip some booze, should state personnel remove the youngster from the home? These suggestions and more are part of an open letter to Governor John Hickenlooper (see it below) written by Bill Althouse, a…
Last week, the Amendment 64 task force released a massive, 166-page report filled with recommendations about how best to implement the measure, which allows adults 21 and over in Colorado to use and possess small amounts of marijuana. How does Calvina Fay, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs…
Several of our posts about alleged profiling of cars from Colorado due to the state’s marijuana laws have focused on Kansas. One involved Westword contributor Britt Chester, who was rousted there during a cross-country trip — and another featured a Kansas attorney who encouraged Coloradans to ditch their weed before…
