Retail cannabis industries across the country are reeling after United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo rescinding the Cole Memorandum, a 2013 policy that offered protection from federal prosecution for the cultivation, distribution and possession of pot in states where it is legal. In Colorado, the first state to authorize the legal sale of retail cannabis, the response has been quick…and, in many cases, furious
Browsing: Legalize It
Dear Stoner: I buy marijuana products for my job and the parties I host. Am I allowed to deduct them on my tax returns? I have the receipts.
Pluto
Four states legalized recreational marijuana in the 2016 election, following in the footsteps of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. But in the year since, only Nevada made retail pot sales a reality. While California and Massachusetts are moving forward to enact permanent legislation and issue licenses for pot establishments, the future of weed in Maine, the fourth state where residents voted in favor of legalization, is at a standstill after a veto by the Republican governor.
Dear Stoner: Will TSA find my edibles when I’m going through security at Denver International Airport? I want to take some treats to Chicago but don’t know if that’s safer than mailing.
Jason
The City of Denver has received its first official application for a cannabis consumption area inside a business. The Coffee Joint, a planned coffee shop and pot lounge at 1130 Yuma Court, just off Interstate 25 and West Eleventh Avenue, submitted its application on Friday, December 8, according to Daniel Rowland, director of public affairs for the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses.
Since shortly after the 2012 passage of Amendment 64, which permitted limited recreational marijuana sales in Colorado, we’ve reported about alleged pot profiling. Over the years, multiple drivers have said they were pulled over for little or no reason while driving a car with Colorado license plates by state troopers in bordering states on the lookout for cannabis, with Kansas among the most frequently mentioned problem jurisdictions.
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions continues to make remarks that alarm state-legalized pot industries and consumers across the country. During a press conference on Wednesday, November 29, announcing new grants and Drug Enforcement Administration projects to combat the national opioid crisis, Sessions told reporters that the Department of Justice is looking at ways to increase federal enforcement against cannabis use, something he called “detrimental” to the country.
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified in front of a House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, November 14, for more than four hours, answering questions about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Planned Parenthood and his department’s investigation of black extremist groups. Sessions’s comments in response to those queries all created headlines, but there was one more hot-button issue he couldn’t avoid: pot.
Shortly after Amendment 64 passed on November 6, 2012, the flood of questions began. How much pot can I buy from a dispensary at one time? How many plants can I grow in my house? Why do I want to eat half my body weight in fried chicken after I smoke? To answer all of these inquiries effectively, Westword created a new position: the Stoner.
Though he doesn’t look like the sharpest tool in the shed, our Stoner has been here for all of your cannabis questions since it was legalized recreationally. Questions have ranged far and wide in the five years since voters spoke up (and toked up); keep reading for links to the the ten most interesting, relevant and ridiculous we’ve received:
Dispensaries might get all the attention, but hemp farmers are getting the acreage – 23,343 acres, to be exact, according to a new study by Vote Hemp, an organization dedicated to advancing the industrial hemp industry. And which state is leading the pack? Colorado, by far.