Jared Polis: Leave cannabis regulation to the states, President Trump

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Editor’s note: The Denver Post opinion pages solicited commentary from various marijuana policy and industry leaders, as well as the public, for a special cannabis-themed edition of the Sunday Perspective section the weekend before 4/20. The Cannabist will be presenting these op-eds throughout the week.

It turns out we are more the rule than the exception here in Colorado: A majority of Americans now live in an area that allows legal access to recreational or medical marijuana. You only…

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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 new cannabis church pushes limits of Denver’s social-use pot law

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A 113-year-old church in Denver has found a higher calling.

The International Church of Cannabis opens its doors on April 20, the unofficial annual marijuana holiday. The renovated church at 400 S. Logan St. is the headquarters of Elevation Ministries, a newly formed Colorado nonprofit religious organization that claims cannabis as its primary sacrament.

This is a unique community for those who consume cannabis as a means to achieving self-discovery, founding member Steve Berke told The…

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Summit County ganja-preneur wants to expand cannabis, food and wine tours beyond Colorado

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Philip Wolf, the founder of Cultivating Spirits, speaking at a cannabis, food and wine event. Wolf found that different terpene strains in marijuana affect mood.

Courtesy Cultivating Spirits

Philip Wolf, the founder of Cultivating Spirits, speaking at a cannabis, food and wine event. Wolf found that different terpene strains in marijuana affect mood.

Now Wolf and his new business partner Branden Nadon want to expand the business into California and Nevada, which also has legalized recreational marijuana. They also want to expand into other Colorado locations.

Wolf’s idea to blend marijuana with a wine pairing experience came to him while he was…

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One big thing opponents of marijuana warned about is not happening

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By Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post
A state-run survey of 37,000 middle and high school students in Washington state finds that marijuana legalization there has had no effect on youngsters’ propensity to use the drug.

The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey found that the 2016 rate of marijuana use was basically unchanged since 2012, when the state voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In the survey, researchers used the measure of “monthly use,” asking students…

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Colorado countdown to 4/20: Your guide to what’s happening when

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We’re just a few short weeks away from 4/20, a.k.a. the stoner’s rite of spring.

Here in Colorado, 4/20 has been a big deal since well before the state legalized adult-use cannabis three years ago. And given that this year’s 4/20 happens on a Thursday — two days after the federal income tax deadline and two days ahead of Earth Day — there should be all sorts of reasons to celebrate.

Trivia time: “420” reportedly became slang for cannabis-related activities decades ago, when a group of high…

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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 legislature looks to address the “wild west” of pot clubs

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The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado nearly five years ago opened a vast landscape of unknowns, and now the state is looking to settle one of the last frontiers.

The General Assembly is advancing bipartisan legislation to make Colorado the first state to allow pot clubs — an issue once considered taboo but one the industry says is overdue.

“What we are lacking as an industry and as consumers is a place to consume,” said Jordan Person at Denver NORML, the local…

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Cannabis Cup tones down in light of threatening letter from feds

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LAS VEGAS — A federal prosecutor has snuffed out plans by pot fans to celebrate Nevada’s new recreational marijuana law by lighting up on an Indian reservation near Las Vegas.

U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden took a hard line in a letter to organizers of a cannabis festival this weekend, saying federal law applies and pot smokers could be prosecuted.

Bogden’s warning raised concerns about a possible Trump administration crackdown on marijuana.

He says a 2013 Obama administration directive that…

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Longmont to use $600K marijuana grant to keep kids off pot

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By John Fryar, The Longmont-Times Call

Longmont’s City Council approved a contract Tuesday night with the state for a $567,640 state marijuana impact grant that the city plans to prevent, intervene and suppress youths’ pot use.

The money is part of nearly $1 million in state grants being given to local governments that do not allow retail marijuana sales in their jurisdictions but that have experienced the impacts of the sale, transfer, cultivation or processing of retail marijuana —…

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Denver social marijuana advisory group works through details — but disagrees about alcohol

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Denver city officials have brought together a disparate group to advise them on how to implement the city’s first-of-its-kind social marijuana use permit program. When the panel met this week, the gaps between competing interests were hard to miss.

Neighborhood advocates and others wary of open marijuana consumption pressed during a two-hour discussion Wednesday for concrete restrictions on a number of fronts for Initiative 300-authorized consumption areas. Businesses will be able to…

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Aspen leaders poised to reconsider marijuana clubs

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Aspen city leaders could give private pot clubs another whiff of consideration, but they first want to see how regulations are addressed by Denver and the state of Colorado.

“I’m open to having the conversation,” Mayor Steve Skadron said Monday, noting he is watching the state capital to see if it creates any regulatory model for private cannabis clubs that Aspen could mimic. “I know Denver is making some progress on bring-your-own pot clubs, and perhaps that could weigh into our…

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New weed sellers want you to swap chamomile for cannabis

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By Jennifer Kaplan, Bloomberg News

Visit a dispensary in one of the 28 states that legally sell marijuana and you’re likely to find products with monikers like God’s Green Crack, Super Lemon Haze, or Skywalker. That’s all about to change as a new breed of “ganjapreneurs” swoop into the fledgling industry. In a classic consumer-marketing move, they’re getting rid of stoner slang and replacing it with supermarket-friendly names that purport to help customers live better.

Their…

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Denver starts work on allowing pot in yoga studios, coffee shops, art galleries and other public places

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By Kristen Wyatt, The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Denver is starting work Wednesday on becoming the first city in the nation to allow marijuana clubs and public pot use in places such as coffee shops, yoga studios and art galleries.

Voters narrowly approved the “social use” measure last November. But the ballot proposal didn’t spell out many rules for how the marijuana could be consumed, beyond saying that the drug can’t be smoked inside and that patrons must be over 21.

A…

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Denver officials detail next steps for implementing social marijuana measure

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Denver licensing and legal officials told City Council members Monday that they still had plenty of work to do to implement the first-of-its-kind marijuana social-use law approved by city voters last month.

“Our plan is to implement the will of the voters within the confines of the law,” said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses. She’s also the longtime director of the Office of Marijuana Policy.

But figuring out the “confines of the…

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How soon could Denver businesses open the first social marijuana use areas? It’s still not clear.

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For Mutiny Information Cafe on Denver’s South Broadway strip, the city’s recently passed social marijuana use voter initiative could allow for once-a-month Saturday night gatherings that mix vaping, edibles and dancing.

Other businesses are considering the possibilities opened up by the successful ballot measure, ranging from one-off events to allowing pot consumption areas on-site daily. The owner of a yoga and spinning studio on East Colfax is mulling the idea of occasional…

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