Author Kate Simmons

The National Park Service has announced that vaping will no longer be allowed in any national parks. NPS revised its regulations and amended the definition of smoking to include electronic cigarettes and all other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).

“Protecting the health and safety of our visitors and employees is one of the most critical duties of the National Park Service,” Michael Reynolds, the acting director of the National Park Service, said in a statement. “It is clear from a recent rule by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a report by the Surgeon General that electronic cigarettes are a threat to public health, especially to the health of young people.”

Last May, NPS announced that it would consider placing ENDS products under the same regulations as tobacco. Now it’s made its decision.

WeedStream has been an ally to the legalization movement since 2014, producing a 24/7/365 soundtrack for the cannabis community. It’s been an advocate for the medical, cultural and financial benefits of marijuana, pushing legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana as a positive influence on society.

“For me, this is a local opportunity to do something for something I believe in. I think it’s important that this culture has an entertainment platform and a positive way of messaging all the positive things that come about with legalization — medicinal in particular, but also recreational,” says Mike Henry, CEO of WeedStream.

WeedStream has become a “peephole” for the rest of the world, so people everywhere can see what’s really happening with marijuana in Colorado. “People have seen us enough to know we’re not some corporate monster. We’re just a local family business,” Henry says. “We use this top-ten list every year to highlight what we think are the top songs with a marijuana theme.”

This year’s list is very eclectic, Henry says; it’s got everything from reggae to the Motet, a Denver band. Here are the station’s picks for the top ten marijuana songs of 2016:

Karson Humiston knows how to help you get a job — and how to create your own. At 24, she’s the CEO and founder of Vangst Talent Network (formerly Graduajana), a company she started in college. Vangst will be holding a career fair and product showcase in Denver on Thursday, January 19, to help anyone interested in the cannabis industry learn more about the available opportunities.

“Most of the country is beginning to see that the cannabis industry is a huge job creator, and it’s really only going to get bigger,” Humiston says. “A lot of the candidates who come aren’t in the industry yet, but they like what they do and feel they can apply their skill sets to this industry. I think at this point, that’s what the industry is looking for.”

Here are the five areas Humiston sees as the main job opportunities in the cannabis industry.

The City of Denver has selected the members of its Social Consumption Advisory Committee, which will oversee implementation of Initiative 300, allowing social consumption of marijuana in the city, and has three meetings scheduled through February.

The twenty-person committee, which comprises city officials, Denver City Council members, community members and marijuana-industry representatives, will meet a total of six to eight times between now and June to draft the rules and regulations governing social-use licenses.

Andrew Freedman is moving on from his position as Colorado’s Director of Marijuana Coordination, Governor John Hickenlooper announced on January 5.

Freedman will still be involved with the cannabis industry and constructing policy: He’s launching a consulting firm, Freedman & Koski LLC, which will advise state and local governments on the implementation of marijuana legalization. (The firm’s website is already live, and packed with pot info.)

After working as Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia’s chief of staff from 2011 to 2013, Freedman became the campaign director for Yes on 66: Colorado Commits to Kids; from there, Hickenlooper hired Freedman to head up the state’s marijuana coordination office.

In the last two weeks of 2016, LivWell Cares, the philanthropic arm of LivWell Enlightened Health, gave nearly $800,000 worth of cannabidiol (CBD) to members of American Medical Refugees and the CannAbility Foundation, two prominent advocacy groups for medical marijuana patients.

“We want to get the product into the hands of the people who really, really need it going into the holiday season,” said Neal Levine, senior vice president of government affairs at LivWell. CannAbility and AMR “work with so many people hand to hand, I couldn’t think of anybody [better]to work with to make sure it gets to as many of the right people as possible.”

It is illegal under Colorado law for businesses to distribute medicated product for free, so when LivWell introduced the program last month, the company said it would charge qualifying patients one penny for an ounce of cannabis. In exchange for less than $80, the company gave away almost 8,000 ounces to thousands of patients over the holiday season.

Four more states legalized recreational marijuana in November, but implementing those new programs may not go smoothly. Nevada is one of those states: Medical marijuana has been legal there since 2000, and last week the state website accidentally leaked personal information on nearly 12,000 people who have applied for medical dispensary licenses.

Applications are eight pages long and include detailed information about applicants, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, full addresses and physical details such as weight, height and eye and hair color.