New York has decriminalised the use of marijuana - becoming the 16th US state to do so. The move, which would make possession of a small amount of the drug a violation rather than a felony, was signed into law by governor Andrew Cuomo. The measure also demands that criminal records of offences linked to low-level marijuana cases either be marked as expunged, or destroyed - an apparent reflection that in the past communities of colour suffered unduly from different application of the law. [continues 231 words]
Brighton - People consume marijuana because it relaxes them but the prospect of its recreational use becoming legal is making police anxious. "Anticipated issues" include "easier access for the youth population," impaired operation of vehicles, and the "facilitation of trafficking," OPP Detective-Sergeant Rick Dupuis said in a presentation to Brighton council on the implications of the federal law that is to take effect sometime after July 1. "The provincial and federal governments indicate that this act was introduced to minimize or mitigate accessibility to our young population but in my professional opinion I believe that is ... counterintuitive," he told council Feb. 20. "It's going to make it much easier." [continues 690 words]
Last week, Colorado Springs City Council passed another new ordinance that will affect home growers of all stripes. "I didn't say the word..." Fire Marshal Brett Lacey joked while presenting it, straightening up to clarify that "this came out of our dealings with marijuana home grows." Specifically, the new ordinance, which passed unanimously, targets intensive indoor grow operations in residential single-family dwellings and townhomes. Any home grow "utilizing grow lighting shall be limited to areas of the residence other than kitchens, bathrooms and/or bedrooms/sleeping rooms" - with an exception for bedrooms as long as there's another code-compliant one elsewhere in the unit - and that "a room or an enclosure with grow lighting used for flora grow, propagation, consumption, or selling shall be limited to 150 square feet aggregate in size per premises." [continues 622 words]
Huge bust halts MMJ grower On Aug. 18, the Colorado Springs Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence division assisted with the execution of three search warrants that resulted in the arrest of one person and the seizure of 537 marijuana plants, three firearms, ammunition and an undisclosed amount of cash. The raid took place within city limits and included agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Felipe Hurtado, the 51-year-old man arrested, had six outstanding felony warrants in Georgia in connection with the 2014 theft of around 8.9 million hydrocodone tablets - an opioid medication that's widely prescribed and highly addictive. According to CSPD's statement following the bust, Hurtado was associated with an unspecified criminal organization and fled to "the general area of Colorado Springs [...] to grow marijuana under the pretext of medical marijuana." [continues 571 words]
It's possible the result still could be a happy ending. When the "first half of 2016" came and went without a marijuana rescheduling announcement, it became clear the Drug Enforcement Agency didn't feel overly obligated to meet its own self-imposed timeline. But now the DEA has rejected two petitions - one from the governors of Rhode Island and Washington, one from a New Mexico resident - for the removal of cannabis from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. The federal government will continue to consider cannabis as dangerous as heroin, though it will end the monopoly on research-grade cannabis production. [continues 639 words]
Allegations without due process are nothing but allegations. And at this point, that's all there is in the case of the four medical marijuana doctors whose licenses hang in legal limbo since the state medical board suspended them last month. But as those doctors wait for their day in court, former employees of MedEval in Colorado Springs - where one of them, Dr. William Stone, practices - are speaking out against their former boss. Assistant operations manager Lisa Moss who was hired in December and quit June 30, says "it was a clinic for profit, not for patients." She describes a get-them-in-get-them-out kind of attitude toward consultations, with little regard for verification or follow-ups. "Half the time [patients] would only fill out half their intake form, then doc would just sign off on it and that's that," she tells the Indy. "And sometimes, they'd come just straight from the DMV with temporary licenses [to prove residency] and no medical history whatsoever." [continues 626 words]
Where there's money, novelty and potential fame, people want in. For some, though, actually getting into Colorado's burgeoning cannabis industry is more difficult than for others. Take the experience of Taneesha Melvin, a 28-year-old Colorado Springs native. This spring, she says, she left her job at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in search of new employment. As a medical marijuana patient herself, Melvin figured her knowledge of strains, experience volunteering at a local dab lounge and service background positioned her well to be a budtender at one of the city's 133 dispensaries. So she dropped $150 on a background check and other licensing fees and set out on the job hunt. [continues 628 words]
Last week, the Colorado Medical Board suspended the licenses of four doctors for allegedly recommending too much marijuana to patients. The doctors turned around and sued the health board, winning a temporary stay on the suspensions while they decide whether to proceed in administrative court or district court. This is the most sweeping punishment doled out to medical marijuana doctors in the system's nearly 20-year existence. Among the four is Dr. William Stone, who practices at the MedEval Clinic on the northeast side of Colorado Springs. His suspension order, issued July 19, contains the written findings of the board's inquiry panel. The panel accuses Stone of signing more than 400 recommendations for possession of more than 75 plants. That, plus Stone's performing evaluations online rather than in person, led the panel to take "emergency action." The other three doctors are also accused of recommending more than 75 plants to hundreds of patients - what law enforcement professionals say is an abuse of the legal system that is feeding the black market. [continues 512 words]
The smoky sunsets of late make for an eerie reminder of the fires burning all around the Springs - to the west, up north and in our past. It's unwelcome deja vu, but it seems all but inevitable each summer. Colorado is hot, dry and windy during the summer, making it fertile ground for ravaging fires. But research suggests this recent uptick may be attributable to insect outbreaks, drought and rising temperatures - all symptoms of manmade climate change. Innovators not resigned to that fate have found an unlikely tool for both surviving wildfires and preventing them at the same time: cannabis. (But not the kind that gets you high.) [continues 546 words]
PN Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami said that government's war on drugs in the Corradino Correctional Facility has failed. He was speaking in Parliament, and reminded people of government's pledge to reform the prison, and end drug abuse there. In this, he said, government has failed. "In November 2013, government hired an ex-US soldier to bring discipline to the prison. Former Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia had said he was starting a war to end drugs in prison. [continues 282 words]
Hallucinogenic African Bark Could Be the Answer to Heroin Addiction, and Addiction in General Richard Dilley had tried everything by the time he traveled to Mexico and agreed to ingest a drug derived from a hallucinogenic African shrub bark that, he was told, would alter his brain. All for the bargain price of $10,000. While terrifying in a way, the drug known as ibogaine (or Tabernanthe iboga in its natural state) was, at this point, less of a horror than the drug Dilley had been addicted to since his teen years. [continues 3617 words]
A statewide ballot initiative aimed at Colorado's legal cannabis industry disintegrated on July 8, much to the chagrin of its proponents and relief of opponents. Amendment 139, which would've effectively taken 80 percent of products off dispensaries' shelves, had scored approvals from the state Title Board, Colorado Supreme Court and Secretary of State's Office. But, according to backers' withdrawal announcement, the task of gathering 98,492 valid signatures by Aug. 8 became nearly impossible when, they alleged, industry-funded opposition "[bought] off signature gatherers to keep the initiative from moving forward." [continues 514 words]
Crouse worries new local law will lead to another years-long legal battle. Bob Crouse didn't think he'd still be fighting. Standing outside the City Administration Building downtown with a cardboard sign and a cadre of medical marijuana supporters on Wednesday, June 29, he remembers this exact day four years ago. It was 4:20 p.m., he says, that a jury decided he was not guilty on charges of felony possession with intent to distribute. That moment of elation contrasted the nightmarish events leading up to it. Diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, Crouse says his prospects looked grim until he started medicating with homemade "phoenix tears" - - a concentrated oil extracted from cannabis flower. That regimen started killing his cancer cells, but in May 2011, local police cut down and confiscated his 55 marijuana plants and pounds of processed flower. After being acquitted, he sued to get his medicine back - some $300,000 worth - plants that ultimately were returned dead and unusable. [continues 559 words]
At around 5 p.m. on Monday, June 20, a medical marijuana center on the north side of Colorado Springs was the target of an armed robbery. According to the police blotter, "a male with a light complexion wearing dark clothes" entered the business, weapon in hand, demanding cash. He made away with an undisclosed amount of money and merchandise. Lt. Timothy Stankey, police department spokesman, says that because the suspect is still at-large and an investigation is just getting underway, the full case report is unavailable. [continues 792 words]
The initiative against pot in both the city and county of Pueblo supposedly leaves the medical side alone. Indeed, the language of the submitted ballot question specifies "retail" marijuana facilities and the campaign for its passage focuses on the ills of legalizing recreational use. But, in effect, the two sides of the industry are so intertwined that banning one could pose a serious threat to the other. According to the state Marijuana Enforcement Division's records, 17 of Pueblo County's 22 licensed retail marijuana dispensaries have a corresponding medical center - nearly all in the same location. [continues 780 words]
Surprise and disappointment have turned to a unique history-making opportunity for a group of people wanting a $1 fine for possession of marijuana in Monona. Members of Madison NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), led by President Nate Petreman of Monona, are collecting signatures to force the issue to a binding direct legislation referendum on the November ballot. In addition to the $1 fine, the legislation would make possession of marijuana the lowest priority for Monona police. [continues 376 words]
Stanton Also Wants Traveller Ethnicity Recognised A NEWLY appointed junior justice minister wants personal possession of all illegal drugs to be decriminalised as part of the Government's plan to tackle gangland crime. Minister of State for Equality, Migration and Integration, David Stanton, also plans to use his new position to convince Fine Gael colleagues to recognise the Travelling Community as a distinct ethnic minority group. Speaking for the first time since taking office, Mr Stanton also revealed Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald is supportive of both proposals. [continues 517 words]
Advocates call for descheduling. Last week, CannaBiz covered local activists' demonstration outside the Air Force Academy before President Barack Obama's widely watched commencement address. As cars from all over the country poured in, the loosely affiliated Cannabis Patient Rights Coalition spoke out - asking the mayor to stop tightening local regulations and the president to stop classifying cannabis as an illegal narcotic. That federally illegal status is cause for much consternation in Colorado's burgeoning industry and all those who operate, regulate, litigate, finance and insure it. But, as the activists lining the road into the Air Force Academy on the morning of June 2 readily admit, changing that status has to be done properly. [continues 629 words]
Even for a city always crawling with military brass, our June 2 visitor was still a cut above. The Commander in Chief was in town to address the Air Force Academy's graduation ceremony - an affair that brought in proud families from all over the country and, of course, sizable media attention. Local cannabis activists saw an opportunity in the occasion. Rolling out of bed at sunrise, a group of 10 diehards gathered around the Academy's gates to send a message to President Barack Obama, Mayor John Suthers and all the ceremony attendees: Leave patients alone. [continues 612 words]
Third time was the charm for Congress to pass legislation to let Veterans Administration doctors discuss medical marijuana with patients in states where it's legal (like this one!). From a 195-222 failed House vote in 2014 to a narrower 210-213 loss in 2015, this month the House shifted to a 233-189 approval - reflecting the transformation in public opinion over those years. Among the "no" votes that failed to stop the action, co-authored by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, was Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs. Lamborn, who represents this veteran-laden district and sits on the House Veteran Affairs Committee, has long decried the shortcomings of what he terms "Obama's VA department." Many local vets are as familiar with those shortcomings - the bureaucratic bottlenecking of much-needed care - as they are with elected leaders' failure to effect meaningful reform. And that frustration has fueled the fight for expanded access to medical marijuana to treat the wounds of war, as detailed in the Indy's April 20 cover story "Aim to Heal." [continues 596 words]
