Dear Stoner: My friend is a cultivator who is very proud of the fact that s/he grows an entirely organic product, outdoors, no chemical fertilizers, etc. Is this really an issue? I noticed that six of the approximately forty medical marijuana business adverts in Westword proclaim that they market an "organic" product. Also, one business advertises "No Greenhouse Garbage." Is this also an undesirable element in medical marijuana? CapHillChar Dear Char: Sounds like you've got a pretty good friend. The short answer to your question is yes, stuff like organic nutrients and no chemical pesticides is important - but how important depends on the type of person you are. [continues 321 words]
Dear Stoner: The pot is the same whether it's medical or recreational, right? So why aren't any of the stores open to the public yet? Iggy Nint Dear Iggy: Keep your organic-hemp shorts on. There's a roughly six-month process here, with deadlines dictated by Amendment 64 itself. While you're right that the herb isn't going to be any different, the state still views this as an entirely new industry and has to set rules accordingly. And right now, we're only about a third of the way there. [continues 843 words]
Dear Stoner: I'm tired of going to concerts and having to stash pot in my underwear or shoes. How do you get herb into concerts? Do we even need to worry about that now in Colorado or Washington? Doobie Brother Dear DB: It's called sleight of hand. Magicians use it to pull off tricks, and you can use it like a stonerized Jedi mind trick. The key is to hide things where the $7.25-anhour rent-a-cop won't look. For example, if you've got a few joints rolled up, try to palm them in your fingers as you hold out your hat or jacket with the same hand. If you do it right, they'll just look at the piece of clothing and tell you to raise your arms while they pat down your doobie-free pockets. Practice, and you can do it two-handed and get your stash jar and one-hitter in without a scratch. [continues 304 words]
Dear Stoner: Why does my weed sometimes smell like pine trees, other times like oranges, and other times like hay? Sniff Test Dear Sniff: I'm going to get a little cosmic here. The cannabis plant actually has elements of other plants and living organisms in it called terpenes. Okay, all living beings produce them. They're basically tiny molecules of smell and flavor and are what make up things like essential oils and resins. That orange smell? Limonene, which is also found in actual oranges. The pine-tree odor is probably from delta-3-carene, which is also found in cedar and pine sap. And the same calming linolool found in lavender oil is found in Lavender Kush. [continues 286 words]
Dear Stoner: I'm flying to a bunch of weddings this summer. What's the best way to get weed when I'm out of town? Wedding Crasher Dear Crasher: There are some websites devoted to this, notably WeBeHigh.org, that list common toker hot spots for cities across the U.S. and around the world. But from my experience, the places they send you to are the equivalent of sending someone to the open-air drug market of Civic Center Park in Denver. [continues 353 words]
Last month, Colorado's legislature passed a hemp-farming registry bill that Governor John Hickenloopersigned into law. But can hemp escape the role of marijuana's sober sister on a national scale? A new development gives it the best chance of doing so in ages. Colorado Representative Jared Polis was among legislators pushing a hemp amendment to the giant farm bill -- and after he took to the House floor citing George Washington's advocacy and the possibility that Betsy Ross's original flag was made of the fiber, the item passed. The video and details below. [continues 1037 words]
Dear Stoner: Is there actually a strain known as Polio Pot? A friend was telling me that she'd smoked some and it paralyzed her legs for a while - hence the name. But I'm not sure I buy it - and if it does exist, I don't think I'll be buying any Polio Pot. Apprehensive in Arvada Dear AA: Polio pot? That's one I haven't heard in a long time. No, there isn't a strain of pot that literally cripples you like polio for a short time. "Polio pot" is just old slang for really good herb. If you're unable to move after smoking a joint, either you've got no tolerance or you're not smoking marijuana. [continues 314 words]
Dear Stoner: I know smoking them is a headache waiting to happen, but what should I do with the crystal-covered stems left over from my buds? I hate the idea of throwing away good THC. Scrooge McDank Dear Scrooge: Strangely, you're not alone in your miserly ways. Up until just a few years ago, a good friend always kept a jar with him specifically to save stems to later make hash with. It was a futile effort, and I still don't know why he did it. But there is something you can make to get the most out of what most stoners toss away: edible alcohol tincture. [continues 326 words]
Dear Stoner: I enjoy smoking herb at concerts, but I'm a germophobe and hate sharing bowls with strangers nearby who ask for a hit. Is it totally un-stoner to puff and not pass? Rolling Stoned Dear RS: While classic stoner etiquette would tell you otherwise, I think it's totally fine to bogart your stash at a concert within reason - and not getting sick from some shirtless Wookiee at Red Rocks is certainly reasonable. When they ask for a hit, you can try the "Oh, the bowl just kicked" method. It usually works. The downside to that approach is when they say, "That's okay, man, I'll pack it up. I just need a piece." Then you have to deal with their germs and them likely packing pocket bowls complete with lint balls. [continues 289 words]
Dear Stoner: I recently read some quote from Thomas Jefferson about smoking bowls on his patio. Did our Founding Fathers actually smoke the hemp they were growing? History Buff Dear Buff: The quote that is falsely attributed to T.J. - "Some of my finest hours have been spent on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see" - actually can't be sourced anywhere in any of his writings, all of which are extensively documented. Yes, Washington and pretty much every other Founding Father, including Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Franklin Pierce, grew it. But that doesn't mean they smoked it. [continues 321 words]
Dear Stoner: With the recent passing of the five-nanogram driving limit for THC, I'm worried that even while sober, as a regular smoker I'll technically be over the limit. Should I sell my car and resign myself to public transportation? Dear Sixteen: The new five-nanogram law is unscientific bullshit. And, yes, it could very easily lead to someone getting a pot DUI who doesn't deserve it; there are some major problems with the measure that need to be addressed. But I don't know what's more dangerous: taking the Colfax bus daily or risking a DUI like you've been risking your whole stoner life when you've driven with any THC in your system. [continues 316 words]
Dear Stoner: I recently started using medical marijuana to control the nausea that comes with Crohn's disease. It works better than any of the old drugs I used to use; is it doing something different? Dear JH: Not different, just better. According to researchers, high amounts of THC in your system help block the release of serotonin into the postsynaptic neuron by binding to your body's natural cannabinoid receptors. In English: THC stops the natural chemical reaction in your body that tells your brain you're feeling queasy. That's the same thing most pharmaceutical anti-nausea drugs do, but cannabis does it more effectively. [continues 318 words]
Dear Stoner: What are these "clones" I see advertised?Are people really cloning marijuana plants like that sheep in Scotland? Dolly Lama Dear Dolly: We're actually amassing an army of tiny clone warriors, not unlike in Star Wars - only we're doing it with cannabis plants.The whole peaceful-revolution thing isn't working out, and we've collectively watched a lot of Empire Strikes Back - so it just made sense. Actually, that's not far from the truth.[Mind is blown!] [continues 374 words]
Dear Stoner: I went to my friend's house who is growing now and asked to see his plants. He said they were "sleeping," and I wasn't allowed in the room. Has he just smoked so much that he thinks his plants sleep? Non Toker Dear NT: Marijuana relies on the sunlight to tell it when to bloom into a flower from a vegetative state. More precisely: Most varieties of cannabis crave their time in darkness - and in nature, that's usually in the fall as the sun starts dipping down into the southern sky. But how long a plant needs to flower depends on where its genetics are rooted. Sativas originally bred and grown in the tropics near the equator - where the change in daylight is minimal from winter to summer - take longer to flower, some as long as sixteen to eighteen weeks under artificial lights timed to twelve hours of darkness each day. In more northern and southern latitudes, that change is drastic. In Colorado, we get just less than nine and a half hours of daylight by the time the winter solstice rolls around; plants - mostly indicas - have evolved to flower much quicker. [continues 259 words]
Dear Stoner: I've never tried marijuana, but lately my pot-smoking brother-in-law has been hanging out at our house with his stash, and I've been thinking of taking a toke or two with him. Any pointers for my first time? Newby Nate Dear Nate: While I'm sure your brother-in-law would love to show you the most potent, dankest buds he has, ask him if he's got anything mid-strength for your first time. Also, try to avoid strong sativas, as they tend to be more anxiety-producing than indicas can be. At the absolute worst, you'll get slightly too high and a little paranoid for a few minutes. Don't worry, it will pass. And if it happens, at least you'll know cannabis smoking is not for you. [continues 349 words]
Dear Stoner: What is up with 4/20? Why is that like the St. Paddy's Day for potheads? Nada Mota Dear Nada: The most plausible explanation comes from Huffington Post reporter Ryan Grim. A story he wrote in 2009 describes how five kids at San Rafael High School in the early 1970s heard about a clandestine pot-grow operation that had been abandoned. They decided to meet up at 4:20 one afternoon after school to search for it. Although they never found the crop, they continued to use the phrase as a code for smoking herb. So how did this catchphrase used by a small group of California high-school kids spread far and wide? According to Grim, the missing link was the Grateful Dead. One of the kid's dads was friends with the band, so all of the teens were Deadheads by default. They began spreading the 4/20 reference around that community, using it when getting high with the Dead and their hangers-on. But the real explosion came during the band's Christmas 1990 Oakland run, when Celebrity Stoner founder and former High Times editor Steve Bloom was handed a flier in the parking lot before the show advertising the first organized mass 4/20 gathering. The secret stoner event was held at Mt. Tamalpais outside of Mill Valley; Bloom wrote it that May, and High Times continued to use the term over the years. With time, it spread from herb smoker to herb smoker - until it developed into the annual celebration of activism and getting high that it is today. [continues 174 words]
George Washington loved hemp. Our nation's first president thought so much of the plant that he once famously wrote to his gardener, "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere." But Washington's interests didn't lie in smoking hemp, marijuana's less famous cousin. A variety of Cannabis sativa that contains little to none of the psychoactive ingredient THC, hemp is good for almost anything except getting you high: you can eat it, wear it, wash yourself with it and build your house out of it. It's strong, nutritious and naturally pest-resistant. [continues 5855 words]
Dear Stoner: My wife was telling me that she heard on TV that smoking pot can cause strokes in older folks. I'm 63 and just a little concerned. Any truth to this rumor? Roberto Reefer Roller Dear RRR: Back in February, a New Zealand scientist said he had found a link between cannabis use and certain types of strokes in people under the age of 55. Out of 160 stroke patients, 16 percent tested positive for marijuana. That was twice as high as the number of cannabis users in a control group with similar conditions and signs, but who had not progressed to a stroke. While the scientists and news media made a big deal out of those findings, they downplayed the more important part of the study: All but one of the 16 percent smoked cigarettes, which can more than double the risk of having an ischemic stroke. [continues 282 words]
Re: "Garden of Weedin'," William Breathes, November 1 Governor John Hickenlooper: "Amendment 64 has the potential to increase the number of children using drugs and would detract from efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation. It sends the wrong message to kids that drugs are okay." This statement really just goes to show how out of touch Mr. Hickenlooper is with reality. The only reason that children might think that drugs are okay would be the continued reported fatalities associated with alcohol and existing pills that are sanctioned by our state and federal government. Why would synthetic marijuana be pursued by Big Pharma if there were no benefits for its consumption? The past ten years have given the state of Colorado a track record that can dispel the myth that there would be an increase in the use of marijuana by children; in fact, it has decreased. [continues 104 words]
Re: "Garden of Weedin'," William Breathes, November 1 I am a retired teacher who remembers subbing back in the late '70s in Lakewood. There were a lot of stoned students then, there are lots of stoned students now, and when [marijuana is] legalized, there will be a lot of stoned students in the future of Colorado. About six years ago I flew to Amsterdam, and I sat next to a young lady in her twenties who was in high school when pot became legal in the Netherlands. She said the first year or two, everyone was doing it, but by the time they got to be seniors, it had become a snore. It's human nature that what we consider exciting is what our parents don't want us to do. [continues 186 words]
This month I'll mark my third anniversary of reviewing medical marijuana dispensaries for Westword as the country's first MMJ critic. In that time, I've written about more than 150 dispensaries, smoked at least 546 grams of cannabis and tested out nearly two ounces of assorted hash, kief and oil. Not bad for a job that I originally thought was going to be a short-lived stunt. That's not to say I didn't take the job seriously - I did - but back in the fall of 2009, the mainstream media wasn't taking the MMJ industry seriously, much less giving it the attention that 60 Minutes just did in its October 21 report. And while that was shortsighted, it was also easy to understand. Growers were opening up ragtag shops and selling anything they could move to patients pumped just to be able to buy legal marijuana. So many dispensaries popped up on South Broadway that the stretch became known as "Broadsterdam." [continues 715 words]
One of the biggest issues for medical marijuana entrepreneurs is the shortage of banks willing to take their money. Most used Colorado Springs State Bank until September 30, when its MMJ accounts were dropped. And now, The Bank of Denver, where other businesses had found refuge, is doing likewise -- and a dispensary owner says the decision was prompted by the recent raid at Cherry Top Farms. The owner, who asks that his name not be used, says The Bank of Denver was the sixth that's "kicked me out" -- the previous one being Colorado Springs State Bank. He understands that such facilities are anxious about working with MMJ operations, since marijuana remains against federal law, and banks are federally regulated. Nevertheless, "I've never made up any stories," he stresses. "I've told them exactly what I do, because my goal is to be 100 percent forthright about this legal business." [continues 434 words]
CannaMed - Colorado's largest medical pot evaluation company - faces scrutiny for selling patient information Karen needed a medical marijuana card. She'd smoked enough pot in her fifty years to know that it subdued her recurring headaches, her nausea, the pain that lingered from the knee surgery she'd had a few years earlier. With all the medical marijuana dispensaries proliferating around Denver, it just made sense to get legal with her medication. To obtain that card, though, she needed a doctor to recommend her for medical marijuana - and since she couldn't afford health insurance, she hadn't seen a regular physician in years. Where to find a doctor? The answer was easy: CannaMed. [continues 828 words]
Do you know what this is? [photo http://www.mapinc.org/images/pot24.jpg ] Then we want you! Do you have a medical condition that necessitates marijuana? Do you have a way with words? If so, Westword wants you to join the ranks as our freelance marijuana-dispensary reviewer. To provide an objective resource on the state's burgeoning medical marijuana scene, Westword has launched "Mile Highs and Lows," a weekly review of Colorado marijuana dispensaries. Now we're looking for just the right person to take the reins. [continues 195 words]
Thank you for a fair, comprehensive, well-written article on medical cannabis. This sets the standard for intelligent, adult discussion of this issue. I believe that we will begin to see more of this kind of propaganda-free investigation across mainstream media. For far too long, the "just say no," head-in-the-sand policy has squelched true public discourse on this extremely important subject. Brinna Nanda via the Internet [end]
Thanks to Joel Warner for another excellent article. As he mentioned, the Colorado Board of Health has proposed a rule change that would impose a limit on the number of medicinal cannabis patients for whom a caregiver could work. This will only make it more difficult for patients to get their medicine by forcing them back into the black market. Currently, a caregiver can provide for many patients. Most patients do not have the knowledge or are too sick to grow their own cannabis. It takes years of practice to learn how to grow an adequate supply of cannabis for one patient, with only the six plants allowed by the Colorado Constitution. Cannabis cultivation experts have been enlisted to serve as caregivers, and therapeutic cannabis dispensaries have formed all over Colorado to provide for multiple patients. The dispensaries are able to produce medicines in quantities large enough to keep the cost to the patient at a minimum and also to create edible forms of cannabis, such as cookies, brownies and other foods. Although cooking with cannabis requires a much larger amount of the raw substance, eating cannabis food is a far healthier way to ingest the medicine. [continues 102 words]
Behind a locked, unmarked door in a Colorado Springs strip mall, the state's largest marijuana dispensary is open for business. The operation's aromatic showroom is packed floor to ceiling with pot and anything and everything related to it. "Welcome to Cannabis Therapeutics. Intended for prescribed medical use only!" announces a large sign on the wall. Glass cases display Baggie upon Baggie of pot - 35 varieties in all. Those looking for cheap medicine can go for the $250-an-ounce, bargain-basement Holland's Hope or upgrade to $300-an-ounce Thunderstruck or $400-an-ounce Purple Haze. Big spenders can opt for top-shelf meds such as a crop of Chocolate Chunk priced at $500 an ounce. It's all available to buy loose or ready to smoke in pre-rolled blunts. And, for green thumbs, cloned marijuana seedlings sit in a bubbling tray of water, waiting for the right buyer. [continues 4799 words]
Through no fault of my own, actual pieces of news sometimes, somehow, work their way into the inner confines of What's So Funny headquarters. Situated comfortably in my vacuum-sealed, germ-free giant obelisk that hovers menacingly above the city, kestrel-like in its vigilance, one would think mine would be an impregnable fortress of humor, a comical refuge where the dick jokes flow like wine, where men in ill-fitting tuxedos engage in hilarious pratfalls hourly, and where someone is always, always, teasing a penguin. [continues 815 words]
Whatever one thinks of SAFER's campaign tactics -- and they were controversial even among those who favor an end to marijuana prohibition -- the simple fact is that Mason Tvert's message was true ("Going to Pot," November 24). By any objective standard, marijuana is safer than alcohol. Toxicity? Alcohol overdoses kill Americans every year, while no fatal marijuana overdose has ever been documented. Addiction? Of those who ever take a drink, 15 percent get hooked on booze, compared to 9 percent for marijuana. Violence? Alcohol is well-documented to be a major cause of aggression and violence, while marijuana almost universally reduces aggression in users. Just ask any cop if he'd rather arrest a drunk or someone who's high on marijuana. Denver voters did the right thing. Bruce Mirken Marijuana Policy Project Washington, D.C. [end]
Greetings from the Mile High City. "Mind if I smoke?" asks Frank Rich, Denver's drunken ambassador. Who could mind? We're sitting in Club 404, a 53-year-old bar in the heart of Denver, a town that's suddenly turned into America's new-age sin city, a place where vice is very nice -- if, in fact, it qualifies as vice at all. Last fall, Denver was toasted as "The Drunkest Big City in America" by Men's Health magazine, and while the stated reasons for that honor did not cite Rich, who founded Modern Drunkard magazine here in 1996, they certainly should have. He's about to crisscross the country on a book tour, touting this town's liquid assets as he talks up The Modern Drunkard: A Handbook for Drinking in the 21st Century, a malted manifesto already bubbling up the Amazon charts. [continues 1154 words]
Wow...Alan Prendergast's "The Maverick," in the May 20 issue, blew me away, and I am e-mailing it to everyone in my address book. This is the kind of stuff that Americans need to be hearing about on the nightly news. A change in drug policy would cure the financial woes of our fine country. It has indeed become a war on people, and the madness must stop. Thanks to Westword for having the courage to publish material like this. I know you have probably taken lots of heat for it, but remember that there are many folks who are stealth supporters. We are hanging out under the radar lest our own careers be in jeopardy. Hannibal, Missouri [end]
Alan Prendergast's article is so on the money. The "war on drugs" has always been a war on the African, native and Latino communities. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Insanity is having the same people at the table who created this mess. Insanity is believing the aboveground economy can compete with the underground economy when, through the strategy of drug prohibition and the war on drugs, we have made these drugs worth more than gold. Insanity is AmeriKKKa's war on drugs. Great piece. Hartford, Connecticut [end]
Thanks for your story on Sheriff Bill Masters and his outspoken criticism of America's war on (some) drugs. His comment about how other members of law enforcement often agree with his position on the topic but then fail to join him publicly was most telling. Readers should know that Masters also serves on the advisory board for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. LEAP was formed two years ago for the purpose of giving a voice to police, judges and other members of the criminal-justice system who disagree with some or all of the policies related to 21st-century prohibition. We now have over a thousand members, with fifty-plus who can speak publicly across the U.S., Canada and in several other countries. As a non-profit organization, we rely on individuals in the community to help us arrange speaking events at civic clubs, school groups (college or high school), church groups, etc. Clearwater, Florida [end]
Bill Masters Is No Dope. So What Turned Him Against the War on Drugs? In the big city, the search would take him down mean streets, to a ratty duplex or a motel bathroom or some tweaker's garage. But the resort town of Telluride has no mean streets, and the rest of San Miguel County, where Masters has been sheriff for the past 25 years, has almost no streets at all. But that doesn't mean that this sinfully scenic county is a drug-free zone. Dope is everywhere, if you want to go hunting for it. On this particular morning in early May, Masters has solid intelligence about a suspected methamphetamine operation tucked deep in the woods, and he wants to eyeball the place himself before sending any of his deputies into harm's way. So he slips behind the wheel of a 1995 white Bronco -- the oldest vehicle in his agency's fleet -- and heads for the high country. [continues 5826 words]
A Year In The Life Of The State's Most Dysfunctional Prison. Stabbings and beatings are common. Drugs are plentiful -- although ingesting them sometimes has unforeseen results. A restraint chair comes in handy, as does the occasional warning shot from Tower III. And whatever you do, don't mess with inmate Ramirez. Those are some of the impressions of the Limon Correctional Facility gleaned from internal documents recently obtained by Westword. The Colorado Department of Corrections reports on the troubled state prison summarize months of disruptions, gang conflicts, assaults on staff and other violent incidents that occurred prior to the murder of a corrections officer last fall. [continues 1157 words]
Blowing Smoke: I enjoyed your Best of Denver 2002 issue, with one exception. I have run for public office twice in opposition to the War on Drugs, but I still feel that for you to publicize the jerk selling nitrous-oxide cannisters over the counter is the height of irresponsibility. Kids can kill themselves with those sorts of things. Inadvertently, you highlight the essential problem of the War on Drugs: If society reacts irrationally to the search for ecstatic experience, all choices available to young people seem equivalent. All choices are not equivalent, and I'm sure the Westword staff knows that as well as anyone else. Bad show, ladies and gentlemen. [continues 473 words]
Teacher's fret: I was fortunate enough to take a class in law school taught by the Honorable John Kane (Stuart Steers's "Disorder in the Court," November 22). He was, by far, the most interesting, compelling and erudite teacher I had. Not only are his views on this country's ill-advised drug policy astute, but his assessment of the constitutionality (or lack thereof) of mandatory sentences is right on. But for a Reagan/Bush-packed Supreme Court, whose leader makes Rush Limbaugh look liberal, the separation-of-powers theory would not allow the legislature to hogtie the judiciary's ability to hand out just sentences for drug cases. Not mentioned, but just as egregious, is the fact that in Colorado, a person faces a possible twelve years in prison for possessing cocaine residue if it can be analyzed by the state. If that person hands this residue to a friend, he faces up to 32 years. [continues 701 words]
Seeds of dissension: So, a hemp-seed granola bar is in the same category as heroin (Marty Jones's "Hemp Burns Out," November 22)? Why prohibitionist politicians force the cultivation of hemp and cannabis in this atmosphere is barbaric. God gave us hemp and cannabis, and only God will take them away -- not some terrorist form of government that profits from this freak show called the War on Drugs. It defies integrity and rationality to cage humans for using cannabis. And to cage sick citizens using cannabis for relief of pain is vile, morbid and spiteful for a civilization in the year 2001. Further, as a Christian, it is a sin to cage your brother or neighbor for using cannabis. Thank God for cannabis. Accept cannabis (also known as kaneh bosm, before the King James Version) for what it is described as on the very first page (like deja vu) of the Bible (Genesis 1:11-12, 29-30). Cannabis prohibition is a very serious crime. [continues 151 words]
Praisin' Kane Regarding federal judge John Kane (Stuart Steers's "Disorder in the Court," November 22), I have three words for this man: God bless him. It amazes me that so few in his position see what is painfully obvious: The "War on Drugs" is a colossal waste of money and manpower; hypocritical (as long as booze is legal), unconstitutional (see "pursuit of happiness"), and used by law enforcement as a license to steal (oh -- sorry -- the word the cops use is "seize") and freely vent their hostilities on what are essentially the modern-day witches, with a zeal not seen since the dawn of the civil-rights movement. [continues 1223 words]
United States District Court Judge John L. Kane is informally holding court behind his desk in downtown Denver's federal courthouse. The 64-year-old jurist puts on his reading glasses, arches his bushy gray eyebrows and begins leafing through a pile of articles he keeps in a folder. He pulls one out and solemnly begins reading what is essentially an indictment in the most serious case he's ever considered in his 23-year career on the bench. The plaintiff? The people of the United States of America. [continues 3090 words]
For seven years, the hemp ice cream produced in Das Agua's shop, Original Sources, made him a successful businessman. Today it makes him a criminal. Created with "milk" made from the ground seeds of industrial hemp -- marijuana's low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) sister plant -- Agua's Hemp I Scream may now be a controlled substance, thanks to an October 9 ruling by the Drug Enforcement Administration that deems illegal any foods containing even a trace of THC, pot's psychoactive ingredient. [continues 1035 words]
The Pendulum Is Swinging Back From Stiff Mandatory Sentences For Drug Offenses. Not long ago, Christie Donner was seen as a fringe figure in state politics, advocating unpopular changes in the stern laws that form the centerpiece of Colorado's part in the nation's War on Drugs. Donner, director of the Colorado Prison Moratorium Coalition, argues that Colorado's prison-building boom has been an expensive mistake. Her belief that Colorado chooses to imprison thousands of drug addicts while failing to adequately fund drug treatment programs is at odds with the rhetoric of politicians who promise to get tough on drugs. [continues 1132 words]
Millionaire pot king Robert Golding's biggest deal was with the DEA agents who let him walk. Whatever was going down in Lakewood on the morning of August 11, 1999, it was enough to give Jon Carter, a 54-year-old grill chef from Aspen, and his lifelong friend David Ziemer a bad case of the jitters. The two men entered and exited Carter's room at the Ramada Inn on West Colfax Avenue several times. They paced back and forth across the welcome mat and made calls from a cell phone. Throughout the late morning and early afternoon, the pair appeared to be waiting for something to happen. [continues 912 words]
The Feds Just Might Drive This Growing Industry Out Of Its Head. Five years ago, vocal hemp supporters Kathleen Chippi and David Almquist put their money where their mouths were by opening the Boulder Hemp Company. The pair's activism by way of commerce has since produced a line of cookies, snacks and baking mixes made with hemp flour, which they grind from hemp seeds shipped in from around the globe. In March the company went national with four flavors of Heavenly Hemp Tortilla Chips. Made with 30 percent hemp flour, the chips are a big hit in stores around the country, including Alfalfa's and Wild Oats. [continues 1856 words]
The Drug Trade In Denver And The Surrounding Area Is Getting Worse -- Much Worse. Lieutenant Kurt Williams likes the way things used to be. As a career narc for the Denver Police Department, he used to be a member of the unofficial drug-cop association known as the Kilo Club. The club was the cops' way to identify drug-enforcement superstars. If an officer could make an arrest that netted at least a kilo, it was a career-maker. "That was a big deal, a kilo," Williams chuckles. "Now? I have never seen more drugs. It's just amazing, and it's growing and growing and growing." [continues 1151 words]
