A bill allowing Coloradans with autism to use medical marijuana was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jared Polis. The new law — HB19-1028 — adds autism to the list of disabling medical conditions that allow a person to legally use medical marijuana, according to the bill. The bill, sponsored by state Reps. Edie Hooton, […]
Colorado marijuana
Hemp Is Next: Colorado Wants More Than Marijuana Prominence
Already known as one of the country’s marijuana capitals, Denver is a heavyweight in the hemp industry, too, and that status is on full display at the NoCo Hemp Expo this weekend. After five years in Loveland, the NoCo Hemp Expo moved to Denver in 2019. The Crowne Plaza DIA‘s parking lot was packed and its event center bustling […]
Testing positive for marijuana won’t get you fired at more than half of Colorado companies, survey says
A recent survey has found more Colorado employers are relaxing their marijuana testing policies and fewer of them are firing workers who test positive for weed compared to a few years ago. Only 48 percent of Colorado companies with “well-defined” drug testing policies will fire a worker for a first-time positive test for pot, according […]
Colorado Cannabis Wants To Go Public, But Not Everyone Is Onboard
Colorado used to be on top of the cannabis world. As legalization spreads both in the U.S. and abroad, a lack of investor capital here could be the industry’s undoing. “Now we are chasing the wagon,” said Dean Heizer, the executive director and chief legal strategist of LivWell. “And we need to get back on the wagon, […]
Colorado marijuana sales crack $6 billion since 2014 legalization, state says
Colorado marijuana businesses have sold more than $6 billion worth of weed and related products since a voter-approved measure allowing adults over the age of 21 to consume recreational pot took effect in the state on Jan. 1, 2014. The milestone figure was highlighted Tuesday in a news release from the Colorado Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division, […]
Feds, local police launch raids on up to 50 black-market marijuana grow houses in Denver area
Scores of agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency fanned out early Thursday morning in a coordinated raid of up to 50 suspected black-market marijuana grow houses in the Denver metro area, authorities say. Dozens of search warrants were served on homeowners and residents across the metro area, said Randy Ladd, spokesman for the DEA’s Denver […]
Denver officials want to clear some 10,000 low-level marijuana convictions, following in Boulder County’s footsteps
Denver officials are planning to clear thousands of marijuana convictions prosecuted before its use became legal in the state. Colorado was among the first states to broadly allow the use and sale of marijuana by adults, but cities elsewhere have led the way on automatic expungement of past misdemeanor marijuana convictions. A spokeswoman for Mayor […]
Marijuana is getting cheaper. For some states, that’s a problem.
Wholesale marijuana prices in Colorado have fallen by a third in just the past 12 months, continuing a price crash that began soon after the drug was legalized. Although this implies that some marijuana entrepreneurs are going to go bankrupt, the bigger financial hit will be felt by states that tax marijuana based on its […]
Colorado cracks a billion in annual marijuana sales in record time, generating $200M in tax revenue
Marijuana sales in Colorado exceeded $1 billion as of August of this year, with tax revenue from those sales coming in at $200 million, according to a report from the Colorado Department of Revenue and its Marijuana Enforcement Division. It’s the earliest point in any of the four years Colorado has had legal recreational marijuana that […]
Canadian legalization creates opportunities for Colorado marijuana businesses
Nationwide recreational marijuana legalization makes Canada a fertile landscape for ganjaprenuers. While some Colorado companies are already cashing in on opportunities north of the border, the effect on the local cannabis landscape is expected to be mostly invisible to consumers, industry advocates say. People began lining up in the wee hours of Newfoundland time Wednesday morning to make […]
Mandatory Testing Costly For Colorado Marijuana Growers
New mandatory marijuana pesticide testing in Colorado is putting a financial squeeze on local cultivators to the tune of thousands of dollars in increased costs. The added expense is the latest financial blow to hit the state’s cultivators, which are already struggling with falling wholesale prices and a glut of product. Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division […]
Denver’s first-of-its-kind social marijuana use program for businesses is mostly a bust. Can it be fixed?
When it comes to navigating the maze of restrictions that came with Denver’s voter-passed law allowing marijuana use in licensed businesses, The Coffee Joint cracked the code. The first — and so far only — licensee under the 2016 ordinance is a combination coffee shop and bring-your-own-cannabis vape bar that’s within spitting distance of Interstate 25, south […]
Denver marijuana sales reach record high of $587 million, sales across state continue to rise
Denver dispensaries sold more than $587 million in marijuana in 2017 even as sales in shops in other parts of the state continue to grow. Retail sales totaled $377 million in Denver, according to the city’s annual report on the marijuana industry released Thursday. The city’s revenue from all marijuana sales in 2017 grew to $44 million, a 20 […]
Oregon Has Too Much Marijuana On Hand, While Colorado’s Pot Supply Is Just Right
Two of the first states to broadly legalize marijuana took different approaches to regulation that left Oregon with a vast oversupply and Colorado with a well-balanced market. But in both states prices for bud have plummeted. A new Oregon report by law enforcement found nearly 70 percent of the legal recreational marijuana grown goes unsold, while an […]
Sweet Leaf case puts Colorado’s marijuana enforcement system to the test
By all appearances, Sweet Leaf Marijuana Centers was a cannabis success story. In early December, Sweet Leaf had grown to 300 employees, brought in upward of $5 million in sales monthly, and expanded across Colorado’s Front Range with an eye on markets such as Nevada and Massachusetts. The burgeoning cannabis chain was blowing away most […]
Colorado Names New Director Of Marijuana Coordination
Colorado has a new marijuana czar, and she’s no stranger to pot policy. Governor John Hickenlooper announced today, July 5, that Dominique Mendiola is now the state’s director of marijuana coordination. Mendiola had served as the deputy director of the Marijuana Enforcement Division since 2014, the same year recreational pot businesses opened in Colorado. Under that […]
In Record-Setting Veto, Hickenlooper Rejects Bill Adding Autism To Conditions Eligible For Medical Marijuana
Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday set a new benchmark for vetoes in a year as he rejected a measure that would have provided medical marijuana access for people with autism spectrum disorder, saying he could not ignore “overwhelming concerns from the medical community.” “If we sign that bill we end up, without question, in some […]
Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper Vetoes First Marijuana “Tasting Rooms” Bill
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday vetoed a bill that would have allowed licensed marijuana “tasting rooms” in Colorado — legislation that was the first of its kind in the nation — citing health and safety concerns. House Bill 1258 would have let adults at current recreational marijuana retailers consume small amounts of pot through edibles or by vaping. “We […]
