Marijuana: IndyBlog, Colorado Springs Independent

Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:58:00 -0600

Yesterday, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach called recreational marijuana a "public safety issue," and indicated that he's likely to advocate for a ban on pot shops in his city. Bach added that he'd had discussions with Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder regarding a possible ban in the more liberal tourist town.…

Mayor Bach: Recreational marijuana is 'public-safety issue'

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:00 -0600

While Mayor Steve Bach didn't exactly come right out, at his monthly press conference, and say he plans to push for a ban on recreational marijuana, he did make it clear that he not only considers the plant a safety risk to the citizens of Colorado Springs, but also a risk to the city's job-sector and economy as whole.

"I’ll be going to City Council on Tuesday, the 28th of May, and during 'mayor’s comments' I’m going to express to City Council my recommendation to them on this matter," said Bach in response to a question from TV newsman Eric Singer.…

Colorado lawmakers considering measure to repeal Amendment 64

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:36:00 -0600

A press release from the proponents of marijuana legalization — including Mason Tvert, Betty Aldworth and Christian Sederberg, who we interviewed for a story on the amendment's task force — says "numerous Colorado state lawmakers are considering supporting a strategic maneuver to repeal Amendment 64."

"The proposal entails the General Assembly referring an unconstitutional measure to the November 2013 ballot in addition to the measure required to establish excise and sales tax levels for marijuana sold under the provisions of Amendment 64," reads the release. "The unconstitutional measure would amend the Colorado State Constitution to entirely repeal Amendment 64 if the voters do not approve the tax levels proposed by legislators."

The Denver Post reports the move is getting a fair amount of consideration from legislators, but faces a steep path to becoming reality.…

Amendment 64 goes bluegrass with Bear Scat Mountain

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:53:00 -0600

There's a full-on revolution in Colorado music, driven by last November's passage of Amendment 64. OK, actually maybe there's just been a handful of songs, but that's still more than Amendment 65 has generated.…

Music: Jay the 420 Kid waxes rhapsodic for weed

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:38:00 -0600

Like the Rocky Mountain Kyngz before him, who wrote the Amendment 64 anthem, Jay the 420 Kid wanted to send-up the local recreational-marijuana scene in stylish verse. This time the topic's a little more specific: the lovely stuff found at Club 710, the cannabis social group, and the Weed Pimps (who we covered here).…

Colbert on gay marriage, the latest pot-tastrophe, and Bongressman Jared Polis

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:13:00 -0600

Everybody's taking note of the Pew Research Center's historic poll revealing that the largest percentage of Americans ever support legalizing marijuana — 52 percent — and that includes Stephen Colbert.

In a four-and-a-half minute clip, the satirist laments the latest lost moral battle.…

Record number of Americans support legalizing marijuana

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:10:00 -0600

A new poll released by the Pew Research Center reveals that, "for the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana."

Pew found that 52 percent of those polled suport the outright legalization of marijuana, compared to 45 percent against, and that 72 percent think "government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth."

Additionally:

The survey finds that an increasing percentage of Americans say they have tried marijuana. Overall, 48% say they have ever tried marijuana, up from 38% a decade ago.…
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Schriever AFB calls military marijuana users 'neither prepared nor suited'

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:21:00 -0700

Maybe it's a nod to people tired of legalese, but a new memo sent yesterday on behalf of Schriever Air Force Base, from the desk of 1st. Lt. Skylar Streetman — a young lawyer recently moved to Colorado Springs, according to her blog — is surprisingly direct.…

Correction: New marijuana law delayed in lieu of mayor's approval

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:58:29 -0700

Tomorrow you're going to read in our marijuana column CannaBiz that today (Tuesday), Colorado Springs City Council was expected to have the first reading of a marijuana amendment. That measure would amend city code to officially criminalize possession of marijuana by someone under 21, or in amounts above an ounce, as spelled out in Amendment 64.…

Marijuana: Take a quick look at Studio A64

Bryce Crawford — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 14:18:28 -0700

In this week's CannaBiz column, we brought you word of KC Stark's new social club for cannabis smokers called Studio A64. Located right above the Triple Nickel Tavern, the business' grand opening is today, Saturday, Feb. 23, and tickets $10.…

UPDATE: Marijuana: Local delivery company raided by police

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:37:15 -0700

Update, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2:29 p.m.: CSPD has released the names of the three individuals arrested in connection to Billygoatgreen MMJ: Pritchard Garrett, 31; Shilo Campbell, 27; and Daniel Conticchio, 29. Conticchio's photo was unavailable at the time we requested it, but the others' are below.…

Marijuana: Poll says government should stay away

Bryce Crawford — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 10:14:52 -0700

A poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, and released Thursday, shows that 72 percent of those polled think the federal government should refrain from arresting folks using marijuana in the states that have legalized it; 24 percent think they shouldn't.

In other questions, 68 percent think the government should not prosecute marijuana growers; and 64 percent think those who sell the substance should be left alone.…

UPDATE: Rocky Mountain Kyngz and the Amendment 64 anthem

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:05:21 -0700

The other day we got an e-mail letting us know the video was ready. Strap on your YouTube glasses, and fire it up.…

Eight goals for marijuana in 2013

Bryce Crawford — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 10:04:02 -0700

The Marijuana Policy Project may seem a little far afield for our focus, being based in Washington, D.C. as it is, but it was some $1 million of its money that paved the way for advertising pushing Amendment 64. (And you may have heard that it passed.)

So when the group sent an e-mail with its strategic plan — a list of eight goals it "can reasonably accomplish by the end of 2013" — well, we figured you might be interested, too.…

Marijuana stays Schedule I

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:23:31 -0700

Finally, we may be reaching the end of a story we've been following for almost 18 months: the attempt by Americans for Safe Access, and related parties, to see marijuana rescheduled from its current status as a Schedule I substance, which has taken the group from a 2002 petition to a 2011 denial, to a subsequent lawsuit.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. rejected ASA's argument that the Drug Enforcement Administration's "final order denying their request to initiate proceedings to reschedule marijuana was arbitrary and capricious," reads the judgment written by Judge Harry T. Edwards.…

No pot stops: El Paso County bans recreational-marijuana shops

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:39:23 -0700

This morning, in a 4 to 1 vote, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners passed the second and final reading of an ordinance banning retail-marijuana facilities in unincorporated areas of the county. Commissioner Peggy Littleton was the lone dissenter, as her district, which is mostly the city of Colorado Springs, voted in favor of Amendment 64, unlike the majority of outlying areas.…

Local Amendment 64 meetings abound

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:51:08 -0700

In addition to tomorrow's informational session regarding Amendment 64, two more meetings have been scheduled. The first is from the El Paso County Libertarian Party Development Group, which is getting together at 7 p.m.…

Learn more about Amendment 64

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:38:04 -0700

This upcoming Tuesday Raul Perez and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy are hosting an informational session on the effects of Amendment 64 "and what we as citizens can expect," reads an e-mail from Perez. "Learn about the personal protections, the retail and taxing process, and the incredible importance of Hemp.…

California dispensary owner sentenced to 10 years

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:06:53 -0700

The Contra Costa Times is reporting that yesterday Aaron Sandusky, a 42-year-old former dispensary owner, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to manufacture marijuana; possession with intent to distribute; and conspiring to operate a drug-related premises.

Sandusky faced as much as life in prison, but U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson gave him the minimum sentence possible under federal guidelines.…
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Breaking: Crouse sues city over destroyed marijuana

Bryce Crawford — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:16:04 -0700

Just when you think the saga of leukemia sufferer (and medical marijuana patient) Bob Crouse has ended, it pulls you back in. Finally able to return to normalcy after winning his protracted trial with the help of the public defender's office, and then winning the return of his marijuana, seized as evidence, with the pro-bono help of attorney Clifton Black, Crouse is confronting a final hurdle: repayment.…

THC-DUI bill back for the third time; pot clubs debut

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:52:08 -0700

• In Wednesday's Independent we've got an interview with Colorado Springs Rep. Mark Waller on what's coming up for the third attempt at passing legislation that codifies how much THC can be in the blood of Colorado's drivers. In the meantime, though, the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction has a pretty good look at what's happening.…

CSPD instructed on how to handle marijuana

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:10:00 -0700

Today, we received a copy of the notice Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey distributed to patrol officers around the middle of December. There's nothing ground-breaking here, but it's nice to know how the results of the passage of Amendment 64 are being looked at internally.…

Hickenlooper signs Amendment 64 proclamation legalizing marijuana

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:05:20 -0700

Today's the day you'll cite when you tell your kids where you were when Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a "declaration [that] formalizes the amendment as part of the state Constitution and makes legal the personal use, possession and limited home-growing of marijuana under Colorado law for adults 21 years of age and older."

"Voters were loud and clear on Election Day," the governor wrote on his Facebook page. "We will begin working immediately with the General Assembly and state agencies to implement Amendment 64."

So, hey, voters in Colorado (and Washington) finally did themselves what no majority of legislators has had the political courage to attempt: ending prohibition of marijuana.…

Poll says even larger majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 13:26:11 -0700

A release from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, says that a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 shows that 58 percent of respondents agree that marijuana should be legal, an increase from the former high of half. Also, 50 percent said they think the federal government will legalize the substance in the next 10 years, and 4 -percent said they think President Barack Obama should not interfere in recent laws passed here and in Washington state.…

Marijuana: Reductions in prosecutions coming; more called for

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:35:03 -0700

Yesterday the folks behind Amendment 64, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, issued a press release "calling on Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey and other Colorado prosecutors to follow the will of the voters by no longer filing cases of adult marijuana possession and dismissing all pending cases in which the sole charge is possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by an adult 21 or older."

The campaign's call is inspired by actions out of Washington, where voters passed a similar measure and King and Pierce county prosecutors are dismissing over 220 marijuana-related cases.

Here's the Seattle Times: "In King County, 175 cases are being dismissed involving people 21 and older and possession of one ounce or less.…