Monday night, Denver City Councilman Albus Brooks succeeded in getting a majority of his colleagues to support a bill decriminalizing possession of one ounce or less of marijuana for those under age 21.
Brooks stresses that the measure shouldn’t be interpreted as a sanction for young people to smoke weed — a position with which anti-pot activists can be expected to take issue prior to next Monday’s final vote. In the meantime, though, one reformer is happily surprised at the passage.

The inability of marijuana businesses to legally use banking services has been a problem in Colorado for years. But with recreational sales slated to start on January 1, the issue takes on even greater urgency — hence, the noteworthiness of a closed-door meeting last week in Washington, D.C., involving a Treasury Department group.
Can a solution be found in the next couple of weeks? Hard to say — but two local industry representatives underscore the importance of finding one. Denver Westword has the rest.

A Miami man was caught trying to bring a green Christmas up to the folks of Pennsylvania.
Randy Jesus Valdivia, a 38-year-old resident of Surfside, wasn’t driving a sleigh, but instead a 2014 Dodge Caravan. On Thursday afternoon, police pulled over the vehicle for displaying “criminal activity indicators” in a small town near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Miami New Times has the full, strange story.