Medical-marijuana shops near schools face cutoff today: Close or move
Feb 27, 2012 Online Issue
In the ongoing stare-down between state-legal medical-marijuana dispensaries and federal law-enforcement officials, today is the day somebody blinks.
Letters sent last month to 23 dispensaries near schools in Colorado gave the businesses until today to either move or shut down. If they do not, the U.S. attorney’s office has vowed to take criminal or civil action against the businesses, which are inherently violating federal law but are in compliance with state medical-marijuana law.
U.S. Attorney John Walsh has said he is not bluffing.
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Tags: Denver, legalization, marijuana, marijuana dispensaries
Colorado’s medical pot business is for-profit, regulated – and thriving
Aug 15, 2011 Online Issue
DENVER – After 15 years as a white-collar “corporate nomad,” Dan Rogers found his
new career in the thriving green-collar industry of Colorado, the only state in America with a for-profit medical marijuana market.
The equities trader and former investment banker now produces pot breeds “Reclining Buddha” and “Heartland Cream” in a converted printing press warehouse near downtown Denver.
In the nation’s most heavily regulated medical cannabis industry, he also works under constant video surveillance.
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Tags: Denver, Medical Marijuana
Pot, marriage could play roles in ’12 Colo. races
Jul 25, 2011 Online Issue
DENVER — Colorado’s position as a key battleground state in the 2012 presidential race comes with a wrinkle neither party seems to like: A freewheeling ballot initiative tradition that could put both legalizing marijuana and
gay marriage before voters on Election Day next year.
Marijuana activists have begun gathering signatures to ask voters to allow pot for recreational use, a direct challenge to federal drug law. And gay-marriage advocates were cleared last week to start petitioning for a repeal of a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Proponents of both measures still must get enough signatures before the questions go to ballots.
Democrats and Republicans aren’t publicly talking about what Colorado’s ballot proposals mean for next year’s race.
However, leaders of both parties say Colorado is a must-win for President Barack Obama.
SOURCE: The Sacramento Bee
Colorado Senate starts work on pot bill after federal warning
May 2, 2011 Online Issue
DENVER — Colorado lawmakers are taking up marijuana regulation proposals for the first time since they received a federal warning about states
and pot.
The Senate Finance Committee planned to start work on a medical marijuana bill that changes rules for how the drug can be grown and sold. Last week, the top federal prosecutor in Colorado sent officials a letter warning that they could put state employees at risk of federal prosecution if they go too far regulating pot.
Lawmakers from both parties have said they intend to move ahead with this year’s bill, which addresses who can work at dispensaries and changes other regulations.
John Walsh’s letter closely resembles those sent by U.S. attorneys in other states that have legalized medical marijuana.
SOURCE: THE REPUBLIC.COM
Tags: Denver, marijuana debate, senate
Paper Seeks Medical Marijuana Critic
Oct 25, 2009 Online Issue
(CBS) Westword, a newspaper in Denver, is looking to recruit a new critic.
This critic wouldn’t be reviewing movies or food, but another commodity entirely — medical marijuana.
Patricia Calhoun, editor of the newspaper, said on “The Early Show” that many people have been interested in the position, which is to review Colorado’s medical marijuana dispensaries.
Calhoun said there isn’t a typical applicant. She said the resumes she’s received this week vary widely, from engineers who have taken medical marijuana for chronic pain to amateur pot smokers who have taken the substance for 20 years.
Tags: Denver, Marijuana Critic, Westword
