Colorado

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

A new study from Colorado State University estimates that Coloradans will use more than two million ounces of marijuana in 2014.

The study, from the Colorado Futures Center at CSU, predicts that some 642,772 state residents -- about 12 percent of the population -- will buy legal marijuana next year, reports Matt Ferner at The Huffington Post.

The researchers believe that each cannabis customer will purchase about 3.5 ounces of pot during the year (seems rather conservative to us), for a grand total of 2,258,985 ounces of weed sold -- about 142,000 pounds, or 71 tons.

The study estimates each ounce of weed will cost about $185; they arrived at that figure by averaging prices at the crowd-sourced website PriceofWeed.com. Based on that price, and with estimated taxes added, Coloradans will be spending about $420 million (yeah, $420 million) on marijuana in 2014.

But that figure, like Coloradans themselves, could get substantially higher. When the data were compiled, recreational marijuana was still illegal, and PriceofWeed.com currently shows the average price of "low quality" marijuana at $222.

Voter-approved Amendment 64 also allows Coloradans to grow their own cannabis, so the numbers could go down if more residents opt to do it the smart way rather than paying retail prices.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Colorado's first industrial hemp crop in almost 60 years is now growing.

Ryan Loftin, a farmer in Springfield, Colorado, on Monday began planting 60 acres of industrial hemp in fields previously used for alfalfa, according to the Denver Post.

He and business partner Chris Thompson are installing a seed press to produce hemp seed oil, reports Patricia Collier of The Associated Press.

Hemp, like marijuana, comes is a form of the cannabis plant. Industrial hemp typically contains little or no THC, the main psychoactive substance in marijuana, but it has dozens of uses in food, fuel, clothing and industrial materials.

(Photo: Marijuana.com)

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

A Denver attorney is threatening a lawsuit if Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signs House Bill 1317, the marijuana regulation bill that includes a requirement for marijuana magazines to be kept behind store counters.

HB 1317, recently passed by the Legislature, also contains other regulations on the sale of marijuana and the licensing of cannabis businesses, report Lindsey Sablan and Phil Tenser of The Denver Channel. Gov. Hickenlooper has said he intends to sign the plan into law.

David Lane, a veteran criminal and defense attorney based in Denver, threatened a lawsuit over the marijuana magazine rule. He is representing two cannabis publications, the Daily Doobie and the Hemp Connoisseur.

"My own personal belief is that this is a blatant First Amendment violation," Lane wrote in a letter to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. "It has apparently passed muster with the House and Senate and the governor will be signing it shortly. Please inform Governor Hickenlooper that if this is signed into law, he can expect a First Amendment law suit filed promptly."

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

History was made on Wednesday as the Colorado Legislature gave final approval to a bill asking voters to tax recreational marijuana, moving the Mile High State closer to becoming the first in the the U.S. to pass laws regulating legal cannabis.

The Colorado Senate on Wednesday morning approved the tax measure and another bill spelling out rules for marijuana stores and sent both the the House, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. The House then quickly passed House Bill 1318, the bill on cannabis taxes, and sent it to Governor John Hickenlooper's desk.

House members will now take up the second measure, covering rules for the pot stores.

The Senate's Wednesday morning marijuana votes came with little discussion. Only Mark Scheffel (R-Parker) stood to speak about the bills on Wednesday, in contrast with Tuesday's lengthy debates on both bills.

Sen. Scheffel said he has reservations about allowing more open and legal access to marijuana (apparently disregarding the fact that the voters of the state obviously have no such reservations). Scheffel claimed he worried about the impact of marijuana legalization "on the kids," but decided to support the tax bill anyway.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Marijuana legalization in Colorado "appeared to be in serious trouble" Monday night, according to The Associated Press. But the late-night effort fell short.

A bipartisan group of state senators late on Monday raced a midnight deadline to possibly repeal retail cannabis legalization. It was a last-moment plan, because lawmakers on Wednesday conclude their work for the year.

Facing the threat of a filibuster and being outvoted in the House, state senators gave up the repeal plans and adjourned Monday just before 10 p.m. without advancing the repeal, the AP reports.

The possibility of repeal arose after the Senate had given initial approval to a cannabis DUI blood-limit standard that they had rejected several times before, including twice this year.

The repeal measure was described by Senate President John Morse as an attempt to "get the marijuana industry's attention" and urge their support for taxes, which will require another vote this fall because of Colorado tax law.

"Here is the inherent problem: The marijuana industry has no incentive to support a tax increase it promised voters," claimed Morse.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

A Colorado Senate committee is expected to vote on legal marijuana regulations and taxes Friday as the deadline for such a decision is closing in.

Lawmakers have until Wednesday to come up with regulations and tax rates for marijuana, newly legal since state voters approved Amendment 64 in November, reports The Denver Channel.

Members of the Legislature have clashed over whether to set a marijuana blood limit for drivers, and whether to limit the size of growing operations and the number of cannabis outlets.

If the Senate Finance Committee approves the regulations and taxes on Friday, the full Senate must still debate the bills. Senators may work over the weekend -- an unusual move -- to get the job done.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Behind the scenes, Colorado lawmakers are talking about introducing a measure that could repeal marijuana legalization in the state, according to advocacy groups on both sides of the issue.

State lawmakers are considering a bill to tax newly legal marijuana by more than 30 percent. Some of them want to add a caveat to the tax proposal -- that cannabis won't be legal anymore unless voters approve the taxes in November.

Legalization supporters called a Friday morning news conference to decry the effort, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. "Numerous" lawmakers are looking at putting a measure before voters that would repeal marijuana legalization in Colorado if voters don't agree to a measure on marijuana taxes this November, said Mason Tvert, one of the authors of Amendment 64, the initiative which legalized cannabis.

The tax measure, which was approved by one legislative committee on Thursday and another on Friday, would place state sales and excise taxes on marijuana that could reach 30 percent of the retail price.

So far, no lawmakers have publicly mentioned a proposal to repeal legalization.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Coloradans who test positive for marijuana can be fired from their jobs, even if their marijuana use was legal under state law, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday.

The court in Thursday's split decision said marijuana use is still prohibited by the federal government, even though medical marijuana and adult cannabis use has been legalized by Colorado's voters, reports Steven K. Paulson at the Huffington Post.

"For an activity to be lawful in Colorado, it must be permitted by, and not contrary to, both state and federal law," the appeals court ruled.

The decision stems from the case of Brandon Coats, a 33-year-old telephone operator for Dish Network, based in Englewood. Coats, a quadriplegic, has been a medical marijuana patient in Colorado since 2009; he was paralyzed in a car crash as a teen.

He was fired after failing a company drug test in 2010, even though his employer didn't claim Coats was ever impaired on the job. He sued to get his job back, but his claim was dismissed by a trial court in 2011. That judge agreed with Dish Network that medical marijuana isn't a "lawful activity."

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

With the tide of public opinion seemingly ready to sweep marijuana prohibition into the dustbin of history, the bipartisan Congressional Research Service, which works exclusively for Congress, has released a legal analysis aimed at helping legislators understand the ramifications of legalization.

The analysis found that there may be some wiggle room when it comes to interpreting the Controlled Substances Act, which makes marijuana illegal for any purpose under federal law, reports Bob Berwyn at the Summit County Voice.

One section of the CSA seems to indicate that "Congress did not intend to entirely occupy the regulatory field concerning controlled substances or wholly supplant traditional state authority in the area … States remain free to pass laws relating to marijuana, or other controlled substances, so long as they do not create a “positive conflict” with federal law, such that the two laws “cannot consistently stand together,” the analysis found.

The analysis gives Congress some solid legal footing to act, according to U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colorado). The report finds that the federal government cannot force states to prohibit cannabis use, according to a statement on Polis's website.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Colorado's first legal 4/20 ended badly on Saturday as two people were shot and wounded at a rally in Denver, disrupting the first celebration of marijuana's symbolic holiday since voters approved legalization last November.

A man and a woman, each between 20 and 30 years old, were each shot in the leg, reports Keith Coffman of Reuters, but those wounds weren't life threatening, Denver police said on Twitter. A third victim, a juvenile, was grazed by a bullet and walked into a nearby hospital, police tweeted.

Officers were looking for two suspects in the shootings, which happened as the Civic Center Park rally was drawing to a close, causing thousands of people to flee the area.

The investigation into the shootings during Saturday's rally is being turned over to the Denver Police Department's Gang Unit, according to a tweet the department posted on Sunday, reports Kim Nguyen at The Denver Channel.

Police described the first gunman as a light complexioned black man, about 6 feet tax and weighing about 180 pounds. He was wearing a gray hoodie, black pants and a Carolina blue baseball cap.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Colorado lawmakers late on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited bill containing proposed regulations for the state's newly legal recreational marijuana industry, moving the Rocky Mountain High state closer to a legal cannabis marketplace.

The bill runs 57 pages and includes most of the ideas endorsed by a legislative committee for how marijuana businesses should operate and be structured, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post. A second bill, also introduced on Thursday, details a proposed marijuana tax structure which voters would have to approve.

Both bills must pass both the House and Senate, requiring a minimum of six different votes, by May 8, the end of the legislative session. If that doesn't happen, it's likely that lawmakers would call a special session this spring, since this is the only chance they have to regulate marijuana before legal cannabis stores open around the beginning of next year.

House Bill 1317, the main marijuana regulation bill, is sponsored by Rep. Dan Pabon (D-Denver), and details how marijuana stores are to operate and be governed. It requires that marijuana growers and sellers operate separately, opposite of the requirements for medical marijuana dispensaries.

Only Colorado residents will be allowed to own or work in recreational marijuana stores. The stores will be allowed to sell only a quarter-ounce of cannabis to people from out of state.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Surprise, surprise -- Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske really hates marijuana legalization.

Kerlikowske, President Obama's drug czar, spoke out this week against recently passed state laws in Colorado and Washington which legalized the possession of limited amounts of marijuana by adults 21 and older. As director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Kerlikowske is required by law to oppose cannabis legalization.

The Drug Czar said the Obama Administration doesn't plan on honoring the new state laws that allow adults in Colorado and Washington to legally use pot, reports RT.com. Last year, voters in both states passed separate laws allowing residents and visitors over 21 to legally have up to an ounce of marijuana.

But despite those laws, both of which overwhelmingly passed with about 55 percent of the vote, Kerlikowske said the Administration will continue to enforce the federal Uniform Controlled Substances Act, under which marijuana is listed as a Schedule I narcotic along with heroin and PCP. Even methamphetamine and cocaine are considered safer drugs than cannabis under the UCSA; both of those substances are classified as Schedule II, by definition safer than marijuana.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Police have arrested the owners of a marijuana club operating out of a Denver art gallery. Two men reportedly offered free cannabis in exchange for donations to the gallery.

Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana for adults, back in November, but there's no legal system for buying and selling it, so places like the 530 Gallery on Santa Fe Boulevard have come with with ways to get around that, reports Rick Sallinger at CBS4.

Adam Zimmerli and Devon Hawk Hazard are now facing felony charges for distribution of marijuana.

Investigative reporter Sallinger visited the 530 Gallery, on Santa Fe Avenue in Denver's Art District, back in February. The gallery had been running a Craigslist ad which offered "high grade marijuana, free with a donation to the gallery." Sallinger said he was offered marijuana if he joined the club.

"As a member of the Cannabis Club of Denver, you follow Amendment 64," the man at the gallery told Sallinger.

Sallinger said he also found many other places also offering free pot in exchange for donations.

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

A new push in Congress to end the federal War On Marijuana is being led by some of the most conservative members of the Republican conference.

The "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act," introduced in the House last week, would protect anyone acting legally under state marijuana laws from federal prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act, reports Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone. The legislation would cover both medical marijuana laws and overall legalization in states like Colorado and Washington, where voters last fall decided to make cannabis legal for adults 21 and older.

Poll data released last week from Pew Research found that 60 percent of Americans believe the federal government should allow states to decide for themselves when it comes to the marijuana laws. The same poll found that 57 percent of Republicans also favor the same approach, "which may explain why this bill is attracting arch-conservative backers in the House," according to Rolling Stone.

The three conservative GOP cosponsors of the "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act" are:

By Steve Elliott
Hemp News

Marijuana is legal now in Colorado; the voters decided that last November. Now the Legislature is busily regulating the newly legal substance with bills codifying the rules for recreational pot use, with bills expected to be introduced this week.

The bills -- at least three, reports John Ingold at The Denver Post -- are from a special committee of lawmakers which was assembled based on suggestions from a task force. The full Legislature has less than a month before the end of its session; it it approves the bills, they would be the first in the nation to create laws governing legal marijuana use by adults, and marijuana sales at retail stores.

One of the bills is expected to include relatively noncontroversial items such as educational campaigns about cannabis and rules that would ban marijuana-infused alcohol. Another bill would create 15 percent excise and special taxes on marijuana. Voters would have to approve those taxes.

The remaining bill would deal with controversial rules on which committee members never reached consensus. These include the business structure for recreational cannabis stores. The committee ultimately decided to allow growers and sellers to operate separately, but many argue that the marijuana industry should be "vertically integrated" with stores having to grow all they sell.