Why the hell is the faux marijuana known as spice so popular in pot-friendly Colorado?

This question was prompted by a 169-count indictment issued by a Jefferson County grand jury against John Swanson and Michael Whitney late last month. As noted by the First Judicial District DA’s office, the two men are accused of “manufacturing, distribution and sale of herbal cigarettes laced with synthetic cannabinoid,” defined as “a chemical that is sprayed onto a plant-based material. Its most common street name is ‘spice.'”

Marijuana home grows may be “the new meth houses,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In a June report, the DEA’s Denver division compared residential marijuana grows in Colorado to “the meth houses of the 1990s” and warned about the potential threats and nuisances of home-growing operations. “Marijuana grows often cause extensive damage to the houses where they are maintained,” states the report, which names house fires, mold, blown electrical transformers, strong odors and do-it-yourself ventilation as destructive potential by-products of home grows. 

Kayvan Khalatbari, second from right, and other proponents of the Neighborhood Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program at the Denver Elections Division. Additional photos and more below.

Update: Only days after the Denver NORML-sponsored Denver Responsible Use Initiative fell short of qualifying for the November ballot, the Denver Elections Division announced that the Neighborhood Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program has passed muster.

Denver voters will now have a chance to weigh in about the proposal, which will allow marijuana use in social settings — specifically selected bars and restaurants in the Mile High City, as outlined in our previous coverage below.

Andrew Schrot, the CEO of Denver-based Blue Kudu, moved to Colorado from Tampa, Florida, with his brother in the summer of 2010, excited to get involved in the cannabis industry. “We thought about edibles, because at that time there wasn’t a consistent, quality product that patients could rely upon,” Schrot recalls.

When Schrot was growing up, his family used to visit the animals at Busch Gardens; a family favorite was the African kudu because of its unique coat and long spiral horns. When brainstorming names for the company, he decided to go with Blue Kudu, to “stand out in a sea of cannabis businesses with green in their name,” he says.

For more than half a decade, administrators at CU Boulder have done everything possible to ensure that the university no longer appears among the top ten on the Princeton Review‘s annual list of reefer madness schools.

And once again, they’ve failed. As usual, CU Boulder is on the 2016 roster — and it hasn’t disappeared from the upper ranks of Princeton Review’s party schools roster, either.