Colorado attorney Rob Corry recently asked for a temporary restraining order to halt tax collection while the matter is considered, but Denver District Court Judge John Madden rejected that request at Friday’s session. The ruling disappoints Corry, but he’s optimistic about the case’s future and feels plenty of interesting information came out — including, he says, the admission by city and state reps that anyone buying marijuana in Colorado is incriminating themselves in the eyes of the federal government.
As Corry said in June, when the suit (on view below) was originally filed, “The primary cause of action is based on the Timothy Leary case before the U.S. Supreme Court:” — a reference to 1969’s Leary v. U.S. “That case struck down the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 after Leary successfully argued to the court that payment of a marijuana tax was a violation of the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.”

When smuggling a stash of marijuana through the foothills of West Virginia, it is highly advisable to eliminate any and all bizarre variables from the equation that could possibly contribute to an accident or an unsavory run in with the law… or both. Just ask 20-year-old Seth Grim, who was arrested last Friday for possession of marijuana after his dog caused him to lose control of his Ford Explorer and wipe out along a stretch of highway — exposing the unusual contents of his SUV.

Cheryl Shuman runs the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club out of L.A., which she says sells one of the first designer brands of pot (never mind that there apparently isn’t an actual dispensary). Her product runs $750 an ounce and comes wrapped in 14-carat gold (no word on if anyone is naive enough to actually pay that). New dupes customers often get star treatment: Chefs will come to their mansions to prepare cannabis-infused meals.
In fact, Shuman claims her entire clientele is star-studded. She says she’s sold to celebrities like Justin Timberlake, who told Playboy in 2011 that he “absolutely” smokes. Other clients have to be kept on the down-low, and the business lacks a brick-and-mortar location in the Hollywood Hills. (She claims a lot, actually, and some say she’s full of it). Now the self-professed “Martha Stewart of marijuana” wants to start a political Super PAC of pot-smoking mommies in Florida to help get medical marijuana passed this November. Read more at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

While it is perfectly fine for you to get hammered on booze in the back of a limo or party bus in Washington while smoking a disgusting cigar, don’t you dare light up some herb and catch a little buzz.

Kratom, an herb found in Southeast Asia and banned in Thailand, Australia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and recently Indiana and Tennessee, is often used in a drink called kava here in Florida — where it is not banned. Not yet, anyway.
But now, Palm Beach County is considering banning kratom. This is because kratom is considered highly addictive by many and has supposedly been tied to several deaths and multiple emerency-room visits across the country since it was introduced to the U.S. as a sort of pick-me-up coffee substitute. Get more at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times.

According to data released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, there were 115,210 registered medical marijuana patients in Colorado at the end of May — close to a record high. That has lawmakers concerned, not because it means there are a lot of sick people in Colorado, but due to the loss of tax revenue from retail cannabis.

Breckenridge, Colorado has a well-founded reputation for progressive marijuana policy. The town’s voters decriminalized pot in 2009, years before the passage of Amendment 64.
Nonetheless, officials passed a law banning new pot shops from opening on Main Street, and a grandfather clause for the Breckenridge Cannabis Club, which was already located there, is about to expire. But the latter’s co-owner says an extension has been granted and she’s hopeful the BCC will be allowed to remain for the long term. More at the Denver Westword.