Browsing: Busted

Astrological vibes will take hold of America on August 21, when a solar eclipse will stretch across the United States. It will be close to complete in Colorado, and the path of totality is just a few hours away, in Wyoming.

In fact, Wyoming is considered one of the best places in the West to view the eclipse, with between 250,000 and 500,000 people expected to head into the state, taking advantage of its clear skies and place in the eclipse’s direct line. Towns from Jackson to Torrington are on the path, and Casper, four hours up I-25, is even holding a five-day festival leading up to the eclipse; the Astronomical League is holding its annual convention there just before the eclipse.

But the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police has a warning for travelers coming from Colorado: Don’t bring your weed.

Keith Hammock has been found guilty of second-degree murder and more for killing one teenager and wounding another last October after they’d jumped a fence into his back yard, where he was growing marijuana. The verdict demonstrates the limitations of Colorado’s famous Make My Day law, especially when it comes to pot grows deemed illegal.

Buddies Wellness LLC is having a tough week. The medical marijuana cultivator, which sells its products through the La Bodega dispensary, voluntarily recalled its concentrates on July 25 because of a possible pesticide contamination. But the problem didn’t end there: Two days later, the City of Denver announced that Buddies Wellness was the first Denver marijuana grower recalling marijuana for mold and mites.

Thirteen people associated with Hoppz’ Cropz stores in Colorado Springs, including co-owners Joseph Hopper, also known as “Joey Hops,” and Dara Wheatley, nicknamed “Boss Lady,” have been indicted on charges that they illegally distributed nearly 200 pounds of marijuana in a variation on the sort of “free” pot giveaway schemes that date back to the days before and just after the launch of legal recreational cannabis sales.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that a company acted improperly when it fired medical marijuana patient Cristina Barbuto after she tested positive for pot. The Colorado Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion in an analogous 2015 case, determining that DISH had the right to dismiss paralyzed MMJ patient Brandon Coats following his own positive test for cannabis. And while the Barbuto finding won’t directly impact the Colorado case, Coats’s lawyer sees a trend toward granting more patient protections here and in other medical marijuana states.

The International Church of Cannabis arrived in Denver this spring on a gust of excitement and controversy, gaining attention for its artful restoration of a church in the West Washington Park neighborhood and public affirmation of cannabis events. All of that attention may have also created a target for law enforcement, however, with Denver police officers crashing the party and issuing citations during one of the church’s first big celebrations.