Historic retail marijuana rules and regulations passed by Denver Council

[Source: The Denver Post]

Denver City Council Monday night passed a historic bill that sets the rules and regulations for the retail marijuana industry in the state's largest city.

Most other big municipalities around Colorado have taken a time-out from setting their own regulations with many opting out to see how Denver's system will work. Denver also was the first to take on medical marijuana regulations.

"The whole world is watching, not just the country," said Councilman Charlie Brown, who led the council committee on the issue. "There will be some changes. It is a work in progress. We did what we could, but this is a huge unknown."


Two changes were put into the new law:
• Any medical marijuana facility that has not applied for a city license by Oct. 1 will be shut down.
• Distances now will be measured as the crow flies, not in terms of distance a pedestrian can walk after an amendment by Councilman Paul Lopez that was approved. Going forward, no new dispensary or retail shop can be within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, drug and alcohol treatment center or another marijuana facility as the crow flies.

Here are some key elements to the new law:
• Through Jan. 2016, only licensed medical marijuana businesses in good standing will be licensed to sell retail marijuana.
• Retail marijuana stores can share the same location with a medical marijuana centers.
• Public hearings will be required before licenses are granted to retail facilities. But the hearings will be less restrictive than liquor licences.
• Similar buffering to the medical marijuana laws will be in effect with no dispensaries allowed within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, another marijuana facility and drug and alcohol treatment facilities.


Ge the complete story:  Historic retail marijuana rules and regulations passed by Denver Council

Nationwide, Police Make More Arrests For Marijuana Than For Violent Crimes In 2012

 
[Source: The Weed Blog]

The FBI released a new report today showing that nationwide, police in the U.S. conduct one drug arrest every 20 seconds and one marijuana arrest every 42 seconds. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs, pointed to the figures showing almost 750,000 marijuana arrests and more than 1.5 million total drug arrests in 2012 as evidence that no matter how aggressively we conduct it, this is a war that can never be won.

“These numbers represent a tremendous loss of human potential. Each one of those arrests is the story of someone who may suffer a variety of adverse effects from their interaction with the justice system,” said LEAP executive director Neill Franklin, a cop for 34 years. “Commit a murder or a robbery and the government will still give you a student loan. Get convicted for smoking a joint and you’re likely to lose it. This is supposed to help people get over their drug habit?”

“Every time a police officer makes an arrest for drugs, that’s several hours out of his or her day not spent going after real criminals. As the country has been investing more and more of its resources into prosecuting drug ‘crime,’ the rate of unsolved violent crime has been steadily increasing. Where are our priorities here?” asked retired lieutenant commander Diane Goldstein, another LEAP speaker.

Today’s FBI report, which can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/persons-arrested/persons-arrested, shows that 82.2 percent of all drug arrests in 2012 were for possession only and 42.4 percent of all drug arrests were for possession of marijuana (88% of all marijuana arrests).

Marijuana arrests were down slightly this year from 2011, but arrests for all drug abuse violations increased. This is perhaps reflective of the growing number of communities who have legalized and regulated marijuana for medical and recreational use.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a group of more than 100,000 law enforcement officials and other supporters who, after fighting the war on drugs, now advocate for its end.

Full article: Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012

Colorado first state in country to finalize rules for recreational pot

[Source: John Ingold, The Denver Post]

In 136 small-type pages, Colorado this week became the first state in the country to adopt final rules for recreational marijuana businesses.


The rules, released late Monday, cover everything from pot shop licensing to inventory tracking to marijuana packaging to advertising. They also represent the most comprehensive effort to date to take the once all-illegal marijuana market and harness it into what supporters say will be controlled, refined legitimacy.

Applications to open a recreational marijuana store can be filed starting in only three weeks. The first stores are expected to open around Jan.1, 2014.


Among the highlights of the rules:

• All marijuana stores, cultivation facilities and marijuana-infused products makers must be licensed and pay fees ranging from $2,750 to $14,000.
• Until October 2014, recreational marijuana stores must grow themselves almost all the pot they sell.
• All businesses must use the state's forthcoming online inventory tracking program to document their marijuana's journey from cultivation to processing to sale.



Complete story: Colorado first state in country to finalize rules for recreational pot

California Legalization On Deck for Marijuana Policy Project

[Source:East Bay Express; David Downs]

The nation’s largest marijuana policy organization announced Monday it will throw its weight behind a major effort to legalize cannabis in California in the 2016 general election. The Marijuana Policy Project plans to work with a broad coalition of local advocates and leaders in California to pass an initiative that would tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. A February Field Poll showed that 54 percent of Californians support taxing and regulating pot.

"The Golden State has long been a leader when it comes to compassionate and fiscally sound marijuana policies,” stated Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “The majority of Californians support making marijuana legal for adults, and they are going to make it a reality soon.”

Full read here: California Legalization On Deck for Marijuana Policy Project

Pot advocates post billboard near Broncos' stadium

[Source: The Associated Press - Wtop.com]

Marijuana advocates are trying to grab some attention from the NFL's season opening game in Denver.

The Marijuana Policy Project wants the league to stop punishing players for using marijuana. It's put up a billboard near Sports Authority Field at Mile High for Thursday night's Denver Broncos-Baltimore Ravens game.

The sign asks the NFL to "stop driving players to drink." Marijuana supporters have long insisted that drinking poses a bigger danger than pot.

Denver's All-Pro linebacker Von Miller will miss Thursday's game and five others for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The reasons are confidential. But The Denver Post has reported that Miller tested positive for marijuana and amphetamine use during his rookie season in 2011.

Full story: Pot advocates post billboard near Broncos' stadium

What States are Likely to Sell Legal Marijuana Next???

[Source: The Huffington Post - Nick Wing ]

Attorney General Eric Holder gave a green light on Thursday to two states whose efforts to legalize marijuana had been locked in by legal uncertainty for more than nine months. With that announcement, Colorado and Washington -- both of which passed pro-pot initiatives at the polls last November -- can now proceed with establishing a framework for the taxation and regulation of legal weed for adults.

The administration's decision holds clear and immediate implications for the two states, both of which had been hesitant to act too quickly over concerns that the government might decide to enforce federal law, which still considers marijuana an illegal substance.

But the move also, and perhaps more importantly, throws open the gates for other states to pursue similar pot legalization efforts, so long as they include "strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems." Experts on both sides of the issue have already said they expect to see movement come quickly.

Find out what the possible next 10 States are to Legalize Pot: What States are Likely to Sell Legal Marijuana Next???