Author Toke of the Town

The United States House of Representatives just approved a bill that would allow banks and financial institutions to serve marijuana businesses in states where it is legal without risking federal prosecution, marking a landmark step towards marijuana reform.

Introduced by Colorado Representative Ed Perlmutter, the SAFE Banking Act needed approval from two-thirds of the House’s 435 members, or 290 yes votes. It got 321, becoming the first marijuana-centered bill to reach a Congressional floor for a vote — as well as the first to pass.

After over a year of free-falling, marijuana prices are on the rise in Colorado, according to the state Department of Revenue. But several marijuana producers say those prices could be even higher than the state estimates.

According to the latest DOR estimates, wholesale marijuana flower is currently about $1,000 per pound, increasing by 17.5 percent from July to September, with trim, flower and whole plant matter allocated for extraction all rising in cost, as well. However, wholesale marijuana growers and dispensary general managers are telling us that wholesale flower prices are actually closer or above $1,300, and have been steadily rising all year.

As Colorado’s cannabis industry opens up to more investment opportunities and public funding through a new law that takes effect November 1, expect powerful players to enter the fray. A private company is already beating some of those public corporations to the punch, however, purchasing five well-known dispensaries in the metro area this year alone.

Lova, a new dispensary brand, now owns both of MMJ America’s dispensaries in Denver as well as Groundswell Cannabis Boutique, Northern Lights Cannabis Co. in Edgewater and Boulder’s Trill Alternatives (MMJ America in Boulder and Northern Lights in Denver will remain unaffected by the deal). Founded by Matthew Shifrin and Amanda Fox, Lova is funded by Australian billionaire Brett Blundy. We sat down with Shifrin and Fox, a University of Denver alum, to learn more about their plans for their new dispensaries.

Most of my Denver friends are too good for a hot dog unless it’s made of something like African wild boar or organically grown plants. I’m not afraid to stick my nose up at a tube of mystery meat, though, and will gladly shave off a few minutes of my life span for a convenient $1 dog downtown. But even I have limits, and will never touch hot dogs served at gas stations or the Fox Creek Junior High cafeteria.

Hebrew National is a solid wiener brand in my book, but it apparently carries some controversy of its own, coming under scrutiny a few years ago for how kosher its meat really is. But that didn’t discourage DNA Genetics from naming a strain after the holy franks, with breeders creating Hebrew National by crossing Kosher Kush and JJ’s Star Dawg (also known as Star Dawg Guava). As the strain gains a reputation for strong nighttime effects and thick OG flavors, though, dispensaries have taken to calling it something simpler: Kosher Dawg.

Growing cannabis is a rare legal entitlement enjoyed by Colorado residents, but the time and know-how to cultivate good pot is just as scarce for most of us. For potential home growers constantly on the go with travel and work, an Israeli hydroponic company says it has a machine that handles all the hard work for you.

Seedo Lab’s automatic growing device could enable anyone with a smartphone to grow cannabis — or vegetables, flowers, leafy greens and plenty of other vegetation — after connecting the hermetically sealed grow box with a smartphone app.

A sheriff’s department in southern Colorado is putting illegal marijuana growers on notice. In an announcement issued September 16, the Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office says that it had found and eradicated over forty illicit pot cultivations over the past several months, and warns that even more raids will follow.

According to LACSO, local sheriff’s deputies and members of several other law enforcement agencies collaboratively investigated and eradicated over forty growing sites in Las Animas County alone in the spring and summer; the street value of the destroyed marijuana is estimated at around $5.76 million.

New marijuana business licenses reserved for low-income demographics are set to launch in Colorado in 2020, but questions remain about who should receive these licenses and how they should be regulated.

Created by Senate Bill 224, a 2019 law that overhauls the state’s medical and recreational marijuana regulations, the new licenses are intended to add more diversity to Colorado’s cannabis space while providing opportunity to entrepreneurs who don’t have traditional training or funding outlets. Also known as micro licenses, the new permits would require the new businesses to use the facilities of established pot companies as they research and create their own cannabis products.

A new hemp and CBD company has hit Colorado retail outlets, and the founder has a familiar name to Colorado marijuana. Jake Salazar, the founder of Denver dispensary chain MMJ America, has moved on to launch Solari Hemp, a line of hemp and CBD gummies, lotions, gel capsules, tinctures and more.

Solari co-founders Salazar, Colin Gallagher and Myorr Janha spent over a year planning their new company, from designing the product lines to having the right genetics in place for a successful hemp crop.

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