Grassroots Colorado was a marijuana club closed after a 4/20 weekend raid in 2015.
Update: The Denver Responsible Use Initiative, a Denver NORML-backed proposal intended to create venues for the social consumption of cannabis in the Mile High City, fell short of qualifying for the November ballot — and attorney Judd Golden, who was both the author of the initiative and one of its primary proponents, has a major takeaway from the experience.
The state votes in November.
Here’s your daily round up of pot news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) said she’s “open” to REC legalization in Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania is moving aggressively to create rules for its MED industry. Major regulatory changes are coming in L.A.
Portland (Ore.) City Hall is fighting with a pot shop about a license requirement.
In SFWeekly, I said we need more weed reporters. I also spoke to HelloMD about WeedWeek and the cannabis beat.
Kayvan Khalatbari
He co-founded one of the first dispensaries in Denver and, earlier this month, he sold it to Willie Nelson for his Willie’s Reserve operation. Now Kayvan Khalatbari, who was featured in our January 2, 2014, roundup of leading ganjapreneurs, is looking ahead to other ways he can contribute to Denver’s ever-evolving culture through art and advocacy. Khalatbari sat down with Westword to discuss what he’s doing next, his thoughts on Denver’s growth, and whether he’d consider another run for Denver City Council or even mayor.
Westword: Talk about the Cannabis Symposium in October.
Kayvan Khalatbari: It’s a symposium on October 26, which is the front end of the Marijuana Management Symposium the city throws at the convention center. We’re going to have a day totally committed to stewardship and have all these traditional folks, utility and technology people, operators in the industry, come and speak about what you can do right now that will impact the business positively and the environment positively, but also long-term best practices that we’re creating internally.
The late Jack Splitt.
Update: Back in June, Jack Splitt was at the center of a joyous scene.
As seen in our previous coverage below, he was alongsisde his mom, Stacey Linn, the executive director of the CannAbility Foundation, as Governor John Hickenlooper, a seat away, signed a bill allowing young medical marijuana patients like him to take their cannabis-based medication at school — something that had previously been forbidden. The resulting legislation became known as Jack’s Law.
Just over two months later, that triumph has turned into tragedy. Jack, who suffered from cerebral palsy, has died at the age of fifteen.
Irvine, Calif.-based Weedmaps is full of bogus dispensary reviews, according to an investigation by the L.A. Times.
Reporter Paresh Dave looked at nearly 600 businesses reviewed on the site and found that 70% included reviews submitted from a single IP address (i.e. a single computer). A textual analysis found that 62% of reviews on the site are “fake.”
Weedmaps, a Yelp-like service with operations in several states, had stored the IP addresses of anonymous reviewers, in its publicly available code. A Weedmaps executive said the 62% figure is far too high, and emphasized that reviews are only part of the product.
it’s another security concern dispensaries face.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
Ryan Kunkel, owner of Seattle dispensary Have A Heart alleges that a recent robbery was an inside job.
Mexican police executed more than 42 suspected gang members on a ranch last year.
The Justice Department said it would stop using private prisons on grounds that they’re more dangerous and less well run than public prisons. The move does not apply to most prisoners in the country, who are incarcerated under state laws.
A photo from the Kansas State Patrol Facebook page.
For years, we’ve written about reports of marijuana profiling.
The claims consistently maintain that law enforcers in jurisdictions beyond this state are more apt to stop vehicles for marijuana-related searches if they’re outfitted with Colorado license plates.
Such tactics were always controversial. Now, a federal court says they’re totally unjustified.
Marijuana Business Daily estimates that tourists in Colorado bought almost $100M worth of REC last year, about 17% of the state total.
The flag of New Mexico
It’s for her sick child.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.
New Mexico mom Nicole Nuñez is suing the state over “arbitrary” supply limits. Nuñez’s eight month old daughter has a seizure disorder. A Michigan judge ruled that seedlings count as plants.
The four Colorado doctors suspended for overprescribing large plant counts will have to go through administrative hearings to try and get their licenses reinstated. A judge tossed out a lawsuit they filed.
Here’s some news that will add a delightful lift to your Monday: There’s a Tommy Chong’s meet-and-greet contestcoming to Denver. Yes, you can hang with the legend himself when he comes to town for the official release of his Chong’s Choice cannabis line, selling now exclusively at these eight dispensaries.
Not only will you get to meet him, but the winner of the contest has been promised his or her very own toking session with Chong. You will be smoking Chong’s Choice line of cannabis grown by Verde Natural.