Lawmaker's Proposal Comes As S.F., Other Cities Weigh Sites SACRAMENTO (AP) - A lawmaker wants to allow California addicts to use heroin, crack and other drugs at supervised facilities to cut down on overdoses, joining several U.S. cities considering establishing the nation's first legal drug-injection sites. The proposal introduced Tuesday comes as San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and Ithaca, New York, weigh ordinances to set up the facilities, citing the success of a site operating in Canada since 2003. [continues 158 words]
A Colorado resident has filed a lawsuit claiming he was the victim of what his attorney calls "license-plate profiling" during a road trip through Idaho last year. Darien Roseen filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday in the District of Idaho, more than a year after he said he was unlawfully detained and searched for marijuana on the basis of his Colorado license plates. Mark Coonts, one of three attorneys on the case, said the 69-year-old was cleared after local law enforcement officers in Payette County, Idaho, detained Roseen and for hours searched his Honda Ridgeline truck for the source of an alleged pot smell. [continues 730 words]
Colorado's Ski Areas Are Split on Their Responses to Public Smoking of Pot Two weeks into the Colorado ski season, slopes have split in response to skiers and snowboarders toking on the hill. Marijuana smokers could lose their ski passes or receive an indifferent shrug depending on where they hit the slopes this winter. For some, the different policies could add to the confusion that has followed Colorado's legalization of recreational pot. As in real estate, location is everything. "One resort, like A-Basin, may ask them to leave, the next may call law enforcement," said Dave Byrd, director of risk and regulatory affairs at the National Ski Areas Association. "That is going to vary a little bit, how they do that." [continues 517 words]
State and federal authorities have allowed marijuana businesses to keep firearms in-house in Colorado because of the danger posed by operating a cash-only business, a legal expert said Monday. Jack Finlaw, chief legal counsel to Gov. John Hickenlooper, said Colorado is alone in its tolerance of firearms at marijuana facilities- a practice that runs contrary to recently issued federal guidelines. A federal rule barring banks from taking the money of criminal enterprises, which marijuana stores are considered under federal law, has scared banks away from doing business with the new industry in Colorado and Washington. Without that relationship, marijuana businesses are forced to accept cash only. [continues 197 words]
Woodland Park joined a growing number of Colorado municipalities Thursday night in banning retail marijuana. The city council of the 7,000-person mountain town voted 3-2 to amend city code to prohibit marijuana cultivation, testing, product manufacturing, clubs and retail sales, a law that takes effect as soon as the city publishes the updated version. The city's moratorium on medical marijuana was set to expire July 1. The decision came at about 11:30 p.m. Michael Slivka, an attorney in Woodland Park, was the only town resident to give comment, backed pot retailing. [continues 482 words]
