Colorado’s decision to legalize recreational cannabis has taken the blame for several changes to the state’s rapidly changing landscape, specifically in Denver. Pot has been accused for the rise in population, the rise in homelessness and the rise in housing costs…and now one study believes it has found a solid connection to the increased cost of homes.
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Judging by the long lines that snaked away from the Dad & Dudes Breweria booth at the Great American Beer Festival the past two years, just about everywhere in Denver has tried cannabis beer. Last year’s version, called George Washington’s Secret Stash, was an IPA infused with cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive hemp extract.
Colorado’s status as one of the most cannabis-friendly states in the country is unquestioned, but its universities aren’t showing the same love, according to a recent study. In a Princeton Review list of the nation’s college campuses that are most accepting of pot, only two Colorado schools cracked the top twenty.
Momentum 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.
The 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.
What 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.
In May, as we’ve reported, Michael McCarron was arrested on a methamphetamine charge, even though he’s never knowingly possessed the substance, because a small amount of marijuana in his possession registered positive for meth according to two field-test kits known as NIKs. Now, an examination at a lab shows that the cannabis wasn’t laced with meth after all.
Cannabis consumers in Nevada thought they were handed a small victory earlier this week, after the state’s Legislative Counsel Bureau released an opinion saying that no state law prohibits local governments from permitting pot consumption in businesses. That optimism was quickly diluted by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, however, who said he’s opposed cannabis-consumption lounges from the beginning of legalization talks and will continue to do so. Nevada voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana in November 2016.
Andrew 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.
Changes 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.