Brandon MarshallHas the Trump administration secretly organized a committee of federal agencies to “combat public support for marijuana,” as Buzzfeed reported on August 29? The article describes White House memos and emails instructing fourteen federal agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration to submit “data demonstrating the most significant negative trends” about marijuana to the Marijuana Policy Coordination Committee.
Flickr/Mark EggroleGovernment reports recently revealed that over 665,000 pounds of legal marijuana were sold in Colorado last year, but that number hardly accounted for every sale in the state. Although market research shows that Colorado’s marijuana black market has become significantly smaller than the rest of the country’s since retail dispensaries showed up in 2014, it hasn’t evaporated altogether.
Photo courtesy of the RAND CorporationThe National Association of Cannabis Businesses’ draft guidelines to establish a country-wide advertising standard for the marijuana industry was the subject of a months-long comment period and is expected to be finalized this summer. Doug Fischer, chief legal officer for the NACB, believes such a criterion is needed as soon as possible, even though cannabis remains illegal on a federal level.
Kate McKee SimmonsAn amendment attached to a federal finance bill that would have provided the legal marijuana industry with banking protections was stifled on Thursday, June 21, by a U.S. Senate committee. The measure, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, would have shielded financial institutions and banks that open accounts for state-legal pot businesses from federal prosecution.
Brandon MarshallMayor Michael Hancock wasn’t a fan of legal marijuana before Colorado voters approved it in 2012, but he’s since become a public defender of the plant — or at least, the actions taken by the City of Denver to comply with Amendment 64. On Sunday, June 10, Hancock’s office announced that he’s spearheading a coalition of mayors from around the country in an effort to push Congress to protect states with legal pot.
Jacqueline CollinsThe industrial-hemp industry may have gotten a nod of approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration in late May, when the agency clarified that not all compounds of cannabis fall under the Controlled Substances Act. Referencing a 2004 decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that excluded non-psychoactive cannabinoids from the federal government’s definition of marijuana, the announcement came after the DEA says it had received numerous inquiries on the matter.
Kenzie BruceMembers of Congress joined legal cannabis-industry representatives in front of the United States Capitol today, May 23, calling for an end to federal pot prohibition. Among the lawmakers appearing in solidarity with the National Cannabis Industry Association were Colorado representatives Diana DeGette and Jared Polis.
Courtesy of EvolabColorado marijuana extraction company Evolab has partnered with one of Canada’s heavily funded public pot companies, according to a joint announcement from Canadian marijuana firm The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD) and Evolab. The licensing deal will take Denver-based Evolab’s production technology as well as its CBx Sciences brand into Canada after that country implements federal marijuana legalization, which could come as early as August.
Elizabeth D'AmicoMarijuana advertising works on kids whether they’re the intended audience or not, a new study maintains.
Westword photo-illustrationOf the 33 state legislators from Colorado who signed a recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling for congressional action “to protect the sovereignty of states like Colorado and ensure that marijuana businesses and consumers will be free from undue federal interference,” none were Republicans.