Author Kate Simmons

High Times magazine launched in the summer of 1974 and has documented the evolution of the marijuana industry though the decades. Now, in partnership with Emerald Brand Solutions, the magazine has created a clothing line to honor the industry and how far it’s come.

“The fashion trend in general is about retro and vintage…. You can see it at any show you go to. At the same time, what you’re seeing is this recognition of the legalization of cannabis,” says Larry Linietsky, COO of High Times. “It’s a way to support the movement by wearing the clothing. We think it’s well-timed. [It’s] vintage, counterculture and authentic.”

The fifth time could be a charm: After four previous attempts, Colorado may finally add post-traumatic stress disorder to its medical marijuana program.

On Wednesday, September 21, members of an interim legislative committee voted 5-0 to endorse a proposal that would add acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of medical conditions that can be legally treated with medical marijuana in Colorado. The committee’s endorsement does not make the bill law, but will act as a positive recommendation when the Colorado Legislature starts its next session in January 2017.

The largest comprehensive study of marijuana users is under way. BDS Analytics is working on the industry’s first scientifically rigorous consumer-research survey about cannabis consumption. Headed by Linda Gilbert, a market research veteran, the team is conducting a nationwide survey of 1,000 people in every state who are deemed demographically representative.

“Everyone in the business has common questions, but nobody has any answers,” Gilbert says. “We want to understand not just where consumers are right now at this point in time, but where have they been, and where they seem to be headed. This is not an advocacy study. We want to understand the general marketplace.”

Aurora’s Mayflower Farms is one of the largest grow operations in the state, and it’s getting even bigger. In November, Mayflower will add an extraction lab for concentrates as well as a kitchen at its facility; in the new year, it will open its own retail store.

In February 2015, the new cannabis company took over an old Mayflower Moving warehouse (hence the name) and started overhauling the place; it had plants in the ground eleven months later, says CEO Bruce Douglass. It currently has five rooms totaling about 3,000 square feet devoted to growing flower, and has gone through eight harvests since January. Each harvest garners about 100 pounds of product. Today Mayflower has 3,600 plants in its facility, but come November it will up that to 6,000.

This morning, Aurora will start taking applications for the last recreational dispensary that will be allowed in the city for the foreseeable future. Aurora’s Marijuana Enforcement Division will review the applications and hold in-person meetings with each applicant before announcing a final decision on November 30.

Back in 2013, Aurora City Council capped the number of pot shops that would be allowed at 24, with four locations in each of the city’s six wards; over the last three years, all but one slot has been claimed, this one in ward VI, in southeast Aurora.

President Michele Ross (far left) and co-founder Melanie Rodgers (far right) stand with scientists and doctors on IMPACT Network’s advisory board.

Scientists are coming out of the woodwork in support of medical marijuana — and the Drug Policy Alliance is standing by them, putting its money where their mouths are.

To support marijuana research, the Denver-based IMPACT Network recently started a program called Scientists for Legalization. Twenty-five scientists have joined so far, and they’re asking the government to fund cannabis research at the state and national levels. They’re also asking that researchers who study marijuana have protection.

The 420 Games, an annual 4.2-mile race for marijuana enthusiasts, began two years ago in San Francisco. By year two, attendance had grown by 300 percent, and CEO Jim McAlpine decided to expand the run to seven cities along the West Coast, with plans for further growth. “We’re going fully national,” he says. “From New York to California and everywhere in between.”

That “in between” includes Boulder, where the Games will land at the Boulder Reservoir on Saturday, October 1.

1. Puff, Pass & Pincushion
Join Denver artist Leslie Moffatt of Heathen Handmade from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 4, for a two-hour Puff, Pass & Pincushion session. Design your own needlepoint art with step-by-step instructions and then take home your own quirky completed cross-stitch. The class is $49, which includes a cannabis-themed pattern, a cross-stitch hoop, fabric and embroidery floss. Attendees must be at least 21 and are encouraged to bring their own cannabis to smoke while they stitch. 

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