Pubdate: Wed, 05 Aug 2015
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: CannaBiz
Copyright: 2015 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Bryce Crawford

CREDIT UNION SUES FEDS, NEW CANNABIS HOTEL OPENS AND MORE

Happy hotel-ing

According to a statement from owners at the MaryJane Group, the Hotel 
San Ayre (3320 W. Colorado Ave., hotelsanayre.com) has officially 
reopened as what the company calls a Bud+Breakfast property. It 
promises "comfortable, cannabis-friendly lodging and amenities ... 
[plus] a continental Wake+Bake Breakfast; a 4:20 Happy Hour with 
complimentary beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres; and a safe, social, 
cannabis-friendly environment." Rates start at $129 per night for the 
Mountain Room and its queen bed.

Application denied

Denver-based Fourth Corner Credit Union sounded in November like it 
would soon open as the first marijuana bank in Colorado, serving a 
cash-dependent constituency that can't seem to buy a break from the 
federal government. All it needed was insurance from the National 
Credit Union Administration and a master account from the Federal Reserve.

"This is the end of the line from the state's side," Gov. John 
Hickenlooper's director of marijuana coordination, Andrew Freedman, 
told the Denver Post at the time. "We've done all we can do."

However, last week the Reserve branch in Kansas City denied the 
application for a master account, and now the credit union is suing 
in federal court, demanding, as the New York Times reported, "'equal 
access' to the financial system."

"I felt all along like they were trying to figure out a way to deny 
our application," Fourth Corner representative Mark Mason told the 
Times. Now, "a federal judge who is only concerned in applying the 
law can make the decision." A professor of legal studies quoted by 
the paper says the lawsuit is unlikely to succeed.

Still, there's some hope, as reported in last week's CannaBiz by 
Griffin Swartzell: The Senate Appropriations Committee recently 
passed a bill including a clause that would ban the Treasury 
Department from using federal funds to punish banks that work with 
the cannabis industry. The U.S. House of Representatives was 
previously scheduled to debate the bill but tabled it until after it 
returns from a monthlong recess on Sept. 8.

Busted in Aspen

According to the Aspen Times, two dispensaries in the mountain town 
were stung by the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division for selling 
marijuana to a minor. In an email to the Times, Native Roots Colorado 
CEO Josh Ginsberg confirmed an employee sold to an undercover 
operative and added, "Saying that I'm appalled and outraged by this 
act would be an understatement." The paper cited "multiple sources" 
in suggesting Alternative Medical Solutions was the other dispensary.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom