Kate McKee SimmonsMomentum for federal cannabis reform may be slowing down under the current presidential administration, but the industry has never had more lobbyists in Washington, D.C., than it does now. And few have been lobbying longer than the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which visited Capitol Hill last week to advocate for a number of pot-friendly bills and amendments.
Jacqueline CollinsThe City of Denver announced it was ready to accept applications for social cannabis consumption areas in late August, but no businesses have yet applied for license. That may change soon, however, now that three local entrepreneurs plan to open a cannabis vaping lounge – once they find a location, that is.
Kate McKee SimmonsCannabis’s federally illegal status makes it difficult to conduct licensed clinical research on the plant and products made from it, hampering medical and commercial advancements in cultivation, extraction and ingestion. Colorado legislators got tired of waiting for the feds, and in May passed a bill that allows for state-approved research and development licenses for clinical studies on potency, chemical composition, agriculture and other areas.
DPDWhat do the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division and Trix cereal have in common? More than you might think. In 2007, Trix shocked the world when the fruit-shaped corn pieces were replaced with generic round puffs. Ten years later, the MED wants the cannabis industry to go just as generic.
YouTubeAndrew Freedman lost his job in January, but it wasn’t because of poor performance. In fact, the Colorado director of marijuana coordination was let go for just the opposite reason: He’d been hired to implement the state’s framework of rules and industry regulations for recreational marijuana, and he’d done such a good job that the state was eliminating the job entirely.
Scott LentzChanges to Colorado’s cannabis industry are on the horizon. The Marijuana Enforcement Division has been holding meetings for industry stakeholders and government officials in order to iron out the details of recently passed laws and new regulations, and the public is encouraged to attend those meetings and provide input.
Dustin Moore and RObZ/Flickr (photoillustration)Dustin Moore and RObZ/Flickr (photoillustration)Medical-marijuana businesses in Maricopa County haven’t been paying as much in property tax as they could.
County Assessor Paul Petersen wants to change that.
Over the next few years, his plan to start enforcing business personal property tax on dispensaries and cultivation facilities is expected to yield millions of dollars in new revenue for county schools and community colleges. The Phoenix New Times has the story…
Brandon MarshallThe drafters of Denver’s social cannabis consumption initiative have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the city’s finalized rules and distance requirements for businesses applying to open a consumption area. Now they’re taking it a step further, threatening to sue the City of Denver if less restrictive rules aren’t put in place.
Discussion of marijuana reform somehow made it into the special session, even though there is little chance any related bill will pass.
State Representative Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat, must know there’s more of a chance that the Texas Legislature will do a group rendition of the macarena than there is that House Bill 334 will get through the Legislature during the special session. Still, Moody held a public hearing on a bill he filed this week, pretty much just for the heck of it.
PBS NewsHour YouTube channelColorado’s cannabis industry has been holding its collective breath ever since President Donald Trump nominated Jeff Sessions for attorney general. And since he was sworn in, Sessions, a proponent of the war on drugs, hasn’t been shy about saying that marijuana should remain illegal federally.
In a proactive move, on April 3 the governors of four states with recreational cannabis businesses up and running at the time — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — sent a letter to Sessions and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, urging that federal officials “engage with us before embarking on any changes to regulatory and enforcement systems.”
