Colorado PTSD marijuana bill advances to House vote, gains amendments focused on children

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Colorado doctors should be allowed to recommend medical marijuana in treating PTSD symptoms of adults, but there should be additional guardrails when it comes to children, state lawmakers decided Thursday.

An amended Senate Bill 17, which would add post-traumatic stress disorder to Colorado’s list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, passed a second reading Thursday in the state House.

“On this auspicious day, we’ve got a serious bill,” bill co-sponsor Sen. Jonathan Singer,…

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Colorado House rejects late attempt to bar pot use in churches

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The Colorado House on Thursday rejected a last minute attempt to ban pot use in churches, an amendment that was introduced on the same day the controversial International Church of Cannabis opened in Denver.

Proposed by state Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, the amendment to a broader bill on pot use would have barred pot use in churches, while still allowing exceptions for religious purposes. Pabon argued it was needed to protect Colorado’s reputation, after the International Church of…

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Colorado lawmakers pass measure allowing counties to levy, collect marijuana taxes

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State lawmakers approved a bill Monday that would allow counties to levy and collect sales tax on recreational marijuana, a move inspired by a standoff between Adams County and three of its cities that could wind up in the state Supreme Court.

The measure, if signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper, would allow counties to impose a pot tax in unincorporated areas without challenge but would have to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with cities and towns to tax weed there.

Adams…

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Dispute over marijuana taxing authority in Colorado may continue — despite state bill designed to defuse it

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A bill designed to resolve a high-stakes standoff over taxing authority between Colorado counties and cities when it comes to recreational marijuana sales is expected to pass out of the legislature Monday.

But the measure, if signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper next month, may not stop a protracted legal battle between Adams County and three of its cities from winding up at the state’s high court.

House Bill 1203, sponsored by Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton, authorizes counties to…

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Colorado ends plans for pot clubs over Trump uncertainty

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By KRISTEN WYATT

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers on Thursday backed off plans to become the first U.S. state to regulate marijuana clubs, saying approval of Amsterdam-style pot clubs could invite a federal crackdown.

It was perhaps the starkest display yet of legal pot states’ uncertainty on how to regulate the drug under President Donald Trump. Alaska marijuana regulators recently delayed planned rules for on-site pot consumption at dispensaries.

Colorado’s measure, which would have…

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This is how Colorado could help pot shops under a federal marijuana crackdown

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Concerned about a potential crackdown from President Donald Trump’s administration, Colorado lawmakers are advancing a bill that would allow recreational pot to be reclassified as medical marijuana so that it could not be seized by federal authorities.

The legislation would allow a one-time transfer prompted by a change in law or a shift in federal enforcement policy and drew no debate as it won final approval in the state Senate on a 28-7 vote Wednesday.

The effort comes after the White…

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Colorado bill making it a crime to grow recreational weed for others heads to gov’s desk

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DENVER — Colorado was set Monday to outlaw marijuana growing co-ops soon after the state Senate unanimously approved a bill (HB17-1221) making it a crime for people to cultivate recreational pot for other people.

The bill supported by the office Gov. John Hickenlooper passed 35-0 but it was unclear when he would sign it.

There are no state estimates on how many collective recreational marijuana growing operations exist in Colorado, though they are popular among users who share the cost of…

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Colorado has strategy for recreational marijuana industry if feds crack down

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DENVER — Colorado is considering an unusual strategy to protect its nascent marijuana industry from a potential federal crackdown, even at the expense of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax collections.

A bill pending in the Legislature would allow pot growers and retailers to reclassify their recreational pot as medical pot if a change in federal law or enforcement occurs.

It’s the boldest attempt yet by a U.S. marijuana state to avoid federal intervention in its weed market.

The bill…

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Colorado lawmakers urge governor to step in on medical marijuana registry backlog

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Three Colorado legislators are calling on Gov. John Hickenlooper to intervene in the state’s medical marijuana registry backlog, an issue that one lawmaker says is a matter of “life and death.”

In the letter sent to the governor Friday, Democratic representatives Jovan Melton, Adrienne Benavidez and Steve Lebsock expressed their disappointment with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, saying “there is no excuse” for the Medical Marijuana Registry’s six- to eight-week…

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Colorado Senate committee sets marijuana plant limit to 12, or 24 with registration

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DENVER — A Colorado plan to crack down on homegrown pot is rapidly heading to the governor’s desk after lawmakers changed the bill to give pot patients more leeway.

A Senate committee vote 5-0 to set a statewide limit of 12 plants per residential property. That’s down from 99 plants under current law.

The bill was changed to give medical marijuana patients and their caregivers up to 24 plants, if they register with the state and with local authorities. Currently, registration is required…

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Colorado pot clubs bill passes through House committee, showdown with governor likely

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DENVER — Colorado lawmakers moved closer Monday to a showdown with the governor over pot clubs.

A House committee voted 8-3 to approve a bill giving local governments a roadmap to allowing private marijuana clubs. The clubs could allow indoor smoking, if they have fewer than three employees.

“The goal here is to give folks a space where they can consume” marijuana, said Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat and sponsor of the bill.

The bill also has Republican supporters who say clubs would keep…

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Citing organized crime, Colorado House OKs efforts to limit marijuana grows

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In a bid to crack down on drug trafficking, the Colorado House on Monday voted to put new limits on home-grown marijuana that would dramatically reduce the number of plants people can legally grow in residential areas.

The bill would impose a blanket 16-plant per home limit — whether the pot’s grown for medical or recreational purposes.

That represents a significant reduction from the current cap, which goes as high as 99 plants for medical marijuana patients and caregivers — a…

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Medical marijuana for PTSD legislation heads to Colorado House for debate

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By Alicia Wallace, The Cannabist Staff

Colorado legislation to add PTSD as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana is headed to the full House.

Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, said he anticipates “a bumpy but positive outcome” for Senate Bill 17.

In a late-night vote Wednesday that followed seven hours of testimony, the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs committee passed the measure in an 8-1 decision. Stephen…

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Colorado governor suggests he may veto pot clubs bill without changes

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Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday expressed reservations about two major pieces of marijuana legislation in Colorado — in one case citing concerns about the Donald Trump administration’s potential crackdown.

The Democrat pledged to veto a measure that won preliminary approval in the state Senate earlier in the day to allow pot clubs with local approval. To win his support, Hickenlooper said the measure needs to ban smoking marijuana indoors.

Under the bill, Senate Bill 184, local…

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Colorado committee votes to greatly reduce number of marijuana plants allowed in home grows

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Colorado is moving toward limiting growing marijuana at home under a bill that sets a max of 12 plants per residential property.

A House committee voted 11-2 Monday to curb the nation’s most generous allowances for growing pot at home.

Colorado currently allows medical pot patients to grow up to 99 plants, far beyond other marijuana states, and it also allows recreational users to group their allotted six plants into massive co-ops, entire greenhouses of pot that aren’t tracked or taxed.

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Marijuana delivery to your home could be reality under new Colorado legislation

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Pizza, prescriptions, Prime … pot?

A bill introduced this week in the Colorado Senate would open the door for home-delivered recreational and medical marijuana in the state.

Senate Bill 192 would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries and recreational pot shops to apply for a license to deliver marijuana products to the private residences of Colorado adults or qualifying medical marijuana patients. The legislation is modeled after Oregon’s newly launched marijuana home delivery…

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Lawmakers push bill for MMJ to treat PTSD in Colorado

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Read more at TheCannabist.co

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Bill makes it a crime to advertise marijuana sales without a license

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The state Senate gave initial approval Monday to a measure designed to crack down on advertisements online for illicit marijuana sales.

The bill — Senate Bill 15 — would create a new criminal offense for a person to advertise the sale of marijuana without a retail license. As a level 2 drug misdemeanor, a person convicted would face up to one year in jail and a fine as high as $750.

Sen. Irene Aguilar, a Denver Democrat and the bill sponsor, told lawmakers that more than 690 ads for…

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Hickenlooper pot tax hike plan vaults debate over education spending to forefront

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Top Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday gave a package of tax hikes introduced a day earlier by Gov. John Hickenlooper an uneasy reception, with members of both parties suggesting they found the proposal lacking but are uncertain of how to proceed.

Hickenlooper on Tuesday took the extraordinary step of proposing two tax hikes to send an additional $110 million to public schools, thrusting school funding into the forefront of the state’s budget discussions, even as lawmakers are already

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Hickenlooper floats pot sales tax hike to bridge school funding gap

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Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday asked Colorado lawmakers for a 50 percent increase in sales taxes on recreational marijuana starting July 1 to send an additional $42 million to public schools.

The Democrat wants to increase the recreation sales tax on pot to 12 percent effective July 1, the same day the levy is scheduled to fall to 8 percent. The current tax rate is 10 percent.

The move is part of his plan to fill a $135 million shortfall in school funding caused by a constitutional…

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Drug-related child welfare cases have increased in Colorado, but connection to legalized marijuana is unclear

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Colorado child-protection cases related to drug use have increased since the state opened recreational marijuana shops three years ago, yet it’s unclear how much the uptick relates to pot.

Child welfare cases involving drug use by a parent or foster parent went up by about 2 percentage points from 2013 to 2015, even as the total number of new child welfare cases declined. That’s an increase from 1,513 drug-related cases to 1,720 statewide. What’s unknown is how many of those…

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