Subject: Medical Marijuana

• Dude, there's my pot! Boulder police set to return stolen weed to dispensary

  New Options Wellness Clinic, a Boulder marijuana dispensary, had a real buzzkill last week when a group of robbers held up the operation and made off with two large tubs of marijuana. Things are looking up this week, however. Not only have the police identified four suspects in connection with the robbery (David Henderson, 40, of Denver; Justin St. John, 29, of Denver; Walter Carter, 21, of Aurora; and Lamar McGee, 22, of Lakewood), but the cops have also apparently obtained the stolen weed --

  June 25, 2009

• Will Monday be judgment day for Colorado's medical marijuana industry?

  It's hard to understate the explosive rise of Colorado's medical marijuana industry. When Westword took an in-depth look at issue in the February 2009 article "Medical marijuana Has Become a Growth Industry in Colorado," just over 5,000 patients had been approved by the state to use marijuana -- which was legalized in the state for medicinal purposes when voters passed Amendment 20 in 2000. And, with roughly two-dozen marijuana dispensaries statewide, experts at the time were saying Colorado's

  July 16, 2009

• Live blog: The Colorado Health Department's medical marijuana hearing

  The Latest Word is at a Colorado Board of Health's hearing, where the board will consider new medical marijuana regulations that some believe will jeopardize the newly booming industry, as Joel Warner reported last week ("Will Monday be judgment day for Colorado's medical marijuana industry?"). We'll update throughout the day with observations, musings, and maybe some tips on where you can get the good stuff. 9:15 a.m.: The hearing is in conference room 250 of the Tivoli Student Union on the Au

  July 20, 2009

• Score one for medical marijuana: Health board rejects restrictions

  After 12-plus hours of testimony, the state health board on Monday rejected a key restriction on medical marijuana dispensaries -- a rule that would have limited them to five patients each. You have to imagine this was the most attention ever heaped on the health board, which played host to hundreds of whooping supporters of the state's booming medical-pot industry. See photos and read a blow-by-blow rundown of the hearing in yesterday's live blog, penned by Melanie Asmar and Jared Jacang Maher

  July 21, 2009

• The state will need a pot of money to maintain the medical marijuana registry

  July 30, 2009

• Colorado's marijuana growing pains continue

  ​In July, at the end of a marathon twelve-plus hour hearing attended by hundreds, the state health board rejected contentious new restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries, including one that may have limited them to five patients each. But that doesn't mean questions and controversies surrounding the state's booming medical marijuana industry have come to an end. Last week, for example, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released new medical marijuana registry

  August 4, 2009

• The Beauvallon is bitter grounds for Aviano Coffee

  August 13, 2009

• The Cannabis Therapy Institute's open letter to Colorado officials

  The logo of the Cannabis Therapy Institute.​The Cannabis Therapy Institute, an organization "dedicated to helping patients achieve a better quality of life with cannabis," may have an Iowa phone number, but it's been very involved of late with pot issues in Colorado. Its "About Us" page notes, "Recently, our advocates helped secure a victory for Jason Lauve, a Boulder County Medical patient who was being prosecuted for having 'too much' medical cannabis. The jury acquitted him on the groun

  August 25, 2009

• CU to host Cannabis Health Fair

  ​Colorado's confusing medical-marijuana laws have led to plenty of puffing on all sides of the issue, with the Cannabis Therapy Institute taking a leading role in pushing for greater availability of what it sees as a healing weed. Last week, the organization joined forces with other medical-marijuana advocates as part of the Medical Cannabis Policy Group, which sent a letter to officials across the state seeking greater communication and cooperation on the subject. And now, CTI is sponsori

  September 2, 2009

• Ganjapreneurs are cashing in on Colorado's booming medical pot business

  September 10, 2009

• Could Clendenin case deal a blow to Colorado's pot biz?

  ​As noted in this week's cover story, "Pot of Gold," while Colorado's Amendment 20, which legalized marijuana in 2000, does not cover the subject of marijuana dispensaries, a flood of such operations are opening statewide under the auspices of a complicated legal framework that's evolved within the vague constraints of the amendment. While dispensary owners and their legal representation argue their ventures are protected by these legal structures, so far state officials have been wary to

  September 14, 2009

• Will it be Hoppy Days for Oktoberfest?

  September 17, 2009

• Wake-Up Call: Mile High City going to pot

  ​Yesterday, Westword's quest for a medical-marijuana critic made the New York Times, after already being featured in the Wall Street Journal, MSN and CNBC. My e-mail box overflowed and my phone rang off the hook. It's funny how the national media has jumped all over this. "Is this the most attention you've ever gotten?," asked one reporter -- words that warm the heart of any editor who's hoping for attention for a big investigative scoop, but instead gets the call for what a national outf

  October 6, 2009

• Cannabis Therapy Institute offers framework for dispensary regulations

  ​Last night, city councils at localities throughout the state, including Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville and Thornton, discussed the issue of medical-marijuana dispensaries at city council meetings. In Durango, for instance, officials approved preliminary tweaks in regulations, setting hours of operation and forbidding such businesses to locate in residential neighborhoods. Against this backdrop, the Cannabis Therapy Institute, one of the state's most vigorous medical-marijuana advocacy g

  October 7, 2009

• Felony weed charges dropped against "pregnant caregiver" Sherri Versfelt

  Sherri Versfelt shows off her baby bump.​Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett says he's "committed to having the most progressive approach to medical marijuana of any DA's office in the state." And yesterday, he took another step toward establishing that reputation by dismissing charges against Nederland's Sherri Versfelt, who was scheduled to go to trial next week on felony drug charges. In a release about this development, the Cannabis Therapy Institute, one of numerous medical-mariju

  October 16, 2009

• Wake-Up Call: Talk about the Mile High (and Higher) City!

  ​Even Balloon Boy couldn't knock our hunt for a medical-marijuana reviewer out of the national news. Yesterday, NPR's Sunday show ran a piece about our quest, resulting in still more applications coming in from across the country. But sorry, folks: We're looking for a Colorado resident, someone who can identify not just particular strains, but deal with the state-specific peculiarities of what's rapidly becoming Colorado's s greenest business. The medical marijuana industry is already boo

  October 19, 2009

• Colorado Attorney General John Suthers rips new Obama administration medical-marijuana regulations

  "Stop using medical marijuana! In the name of my interpretation of the law!"​Colorado Attorney General John Suthers wants to put the medical-marijuana genie back in the bottle -- so it's hardly surprising that he's not thrilled by the Obama administration's efforts to put enforcement of rules pertaining to dispensaries in the hands of states. Shortly after the new guidelines were released, Suthers issued a statement declaring that the document "relies on the faulty assumption that Colorado

  October 19, 2009

• SAFER's Mason Tvert on medical marijuana, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and a weed poll on the rise

  Mason Tvert gets ready for Halloween. Busted!​It's already been a big week in marijuana. Yesterday, the Obama administration issued new, less strident rules about medical-marijuana, prompting Colorado Attorney General and anti-pot crusader John Suthers to demand tighter regulations on dispensaries. Meanwhile, 44 percent of respondents to a new Gallup poll advocated legalization of marijuana across the board. Granted, 54 percent still opposed it -- but the legalize-it numbers are up 8 perce

  October 20, 2009

• Was the Dan Tang Drug Trafficking Organization in cahoots with Colorado dispensaries?

  The grow houses had a lot of pot -- but was it going to dispensaries?​In February 2008, as detailed in the recent Westword stories "Up in Smoke" and "Tales of the Dragon," DEA agents and north metro narcotics detectives uncovered an indoor marijuana ring the likes of which Colorado had never seen. As part of "Operation Fortune Cookie," investigators hauled more than 24,000 high-grade marijuana plants and millions of dollars out of cookie-cutter suburban ranch homes in the largest and possi

  October 20, 2009

• Medical-marijuana advocates fight Mexican drug cartel reports with the Always Buy Colorado Cannabis pledge

  Coming to a medical-marijuana dispensary near you?​Opponents of medical-marijuana laws like Colorado Attorney General John Suthers are increasingly playing the crime card -- implying that the proliferation of dispensaries in Colorado is fueling illegal and increasingly dangerous behavior (without, of course, providing specific examples of the phenomenon). Today's Denver Post adds a chorus to this tune via an article suggesting that demand for ganja has grown so fast that suppliers are havi

  October 21, 2009

• Wake-Up Call: My life has gone to pot

  ​It's been three weeks since we first posted news of our search for a medical-marijuana reviewer. Within five minutes of that posting, we had our first application for this extremely part-time job. Within ten minutes, our first media inquiry. And the applications and media calls keep coming. This morning -- while on hold with CBS, which called me just after 4 a.m., then postponed the interview because another segment ran long (breaking news? A Balloon Boy update?) -- I fished another fif

  October 22, 2009

• The new pot biz: Marijuana institutes

  Calling Professor Pot!​The explosive growth of Colorado's marijuana dispensary scene is sooo September 2009. The next big thing, it turns out, is marijuana institutes -- organizations designed to help folks makes heads or tails of the heady medical marijuana scene. The development is a no-brainer. The state's medical marijuana law is so vague -- it doesn't mention dispensaries at all -- that every dispensary in town keeps a lawyer on retainer to help them stay on the up-and-up.

  October 28, 2009

• How medical marijuana regulations could turn the wild West into the mild, mild West

  October 29, 2009

• Sean McAllister leads the campaign for sensible marijuana laws in Breckenridge

  Sean McAllister thinks the government has better things to spend money on than busting small-time weed users.​While the rest of the state bickers about medical marijuana, and what kind of limitations should or shouldn't be placed upon it (read Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's take here), Breckenridge is considering decriminalizing ganja for those without health issues, too, via 2F, a measure earmarked for the Breck ballot this November. Sean McAllister of Sensible Breckenridge, who's helpi

  October 28, 2009

• Sensible Colorado tries to draw a crowd to Board of Health's medical-marijuana hearing

  ​As Patricia Calhoun points out in this morning's Wake-Up Call, the Colorado Board of Health is holding an "Emergency Rulemaking Hearing" at 10:30 a.m. this morning; it takes place in Building A at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment headquarters, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South. The spur: A Colorado Court of Appeals judgment last week that went against Stacey Clendenin, whose 44 pot plants seized in a 2006 bust were intended to supply medical-marijuana patients, some of

  November 3, 2009

• Can't tell the players without the updated medical-marijuana scorecard

  Breckenridge may decriminalize marijuana today, but the town is regulating dispensaries.​Although the state of Colorado is currently grappling with medical marijuana, as exemplified by the Colorado Board of Health's "Emergency Rulemaking Hearing" slated for later this morning (expect Sensible Colorado supporters to show up in force), local governments are on the front lines of the issue. And a new report by the Colorado Municipal League, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represent

  November 3, 2009

• Everything you wanted to know about recent medical-marijuana developments -- but were afraid to ask

  "Does 'regulatory whiplash' count as a medical-marijuana ailment?"​State medical-marijuana rules have always been ridiculously vague and confusing, leading to the riotous growth of the local dispensary industry. Last week, the Colorado Court of Appeals weighed in on the matter, and this morning the Colorado Board of Health chimed in, too. Now, lo and behold, state medical-marijuana rules are still ridiculously vague and confusing. To help sort through the muddle, here's the CliffsNotes ve

  November 3, 2009

• Wake-Up Call: And the medical-marijuana hits keep coming

  ​There's nothing mellow about medical marijuana in Colorado. In a wacky emergency session yesterday, the Colorado Board of Health tossed out its definition of "caregiver" to comply with a recent Court of Appeals decision, postponing the adoption of any new herbiage verbiage until December 16. In the meantime, Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown will unveil proposed regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries in this city on November 18. But while politicians and bureaucrats blow smo

  November 4, 2009

• Westword's hunt for a pot critic makes the talk-show circuit

  November 5, 2009

• City Councilman Chris Nevitt: Tax medical marijuana -- and maybe regulate it like food

  Chris Nevitt feels better about the safety of a Starbucks coffee than a marijuana brownie.​Denver councilman Charlie Brown plans to share his ideas for proposed medical-marijuana regulations on November 18 -- and his already-expressed interest in taxing the stuff has been endorsed by fellow councilman Chris Nevitt. "Both of us strongly believe it should be taxed -- and I think that position is almost universally shared across the council," he says. When it comes to other aspects of medica

  November 4, 2009

• Wake-Up Call: Boulder officials fire up medical-marijuana dispensary regulations

  ​What's happened to the liberal mecca of Boulder? First, cops put a lid -- and some pants -- on plans to resurrect the Halloween Mall Crawl, as well as the Naked Pumpkin Run. And now the city's looking at strictly regulating medical marijuana dispensaries -- if it doesn't ban them altogether. At 6 p.m. today, the Boulder Planning Board will draft a proposal to send on to Boulder City Council. Among the possible moves: setting a limit on the number of dispensaries allowed in the city (ther

  November 5, 2009

• Tips for medical-marijuana dispensaries wanting to comply with new Board of Health ruling

  ​The Colorado Court of Appeals ruling in the Stacey Clendenin case, which stated that medical-marijuana caregivers must do more than simply supply the product in question, led the state's board of health to strike its caregiver definition -- a move that's caused confusion and panic among medical-marijuana purveyors. Into this maelstrom steps the Cannabis Therapy Institute, an advocacy group that's developed the Colorado Patients Services program -- a plan "designed to help caregivers prov

  November 5, 2009

• Should Colorado marijuana dispensaries follow the New Mexico model?

  A Flickr photo.Could the Land of Enchantment magically solve Colorado's pot problems?​As a recent Court of Appeals decision and a Board of Health brouhaha made clear, Colorado's medical marijuana is in desperate need of an overhaul. While officials and dispensary owners tussle over ridiculously vague pot laws, the state's marijuana patients are stuck in between -- a population that continues to grow by leaps and bounds. So how do we fix this mess? One option might be to copy New Mexico's

  November 5, 2009

• Brian Vicente on fight to void Board of Health's medical-marijuana ruling

  Medical-marijuana providers in the state of Colorado are in a state of confusion right now.​Yesterday afternoon, medical-marijuana advocates filed a petition in Denver District Court calling for a Tuesday ruling about the definition of "caregiver" by the state's Board of Health to be voided. Sensible Colorado executive director Brian Vicente, who joined attorneys such as Rob Corry and Sensible Breckenridge's Sean McAllister in presenting the document, believes the rushed manner in which th

  November 6, 2009

• Senator Al White's proposal to put the state in charge of growing and distributing medical marijuana

  Senator Al White wants state and federal marijuana laws to peacefully co-exist. Good luck.​A Colorado Court of Appeals decision regarding medical marijuana -- as well as a subsequent Board of Health move to strike its definition of caregiver -- has led to a motion filed by pro-marijuana advocates, not to mention plenty of confusion over legal issues. Into this maelstrom steps Senator Al White, a Republican from Hayden, who's floating the idea of the state taking over the growing and distri

  November 9, 2009

• Hearing for motion to void Board of Health's medical-marijuana decision set for tomorrow, November 10

  Do medical-marijuana caregivers only have to supply medical marijuana? Or must they do something "more"?​On November 5, medical-marijuana advocates filed a motion to void a state Board of Health ruling striking its previous definition of caregiver. During a subsequent conversation with Westword, Sensible Colorado's Brian Vicente said he hoped arguments would be heard early this week -- and the timing seems to be working out. "It's set for tomorrow, Tuesday, at 8:30 a.m. in Courtroom Six in

  November 9, 2009

• Next big medical-marijuana showdown: Boulder City Council considers moratorium on dispensaries tonight

  Photo by Robert FisherNew cases could be closed in Boulder depending on a city council meeting tonight.​Earlier today, Judge Larry Naves gave medical-marijuana boosters a big win by voiding the Board of Health's decision to change a definition of caregiver put into place in July. But advocates have no time to rest. At 6 p.m. this evening at Boulder's Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway, the Boulder City Council will consider whether it should prohibit medical-marijuana businesses in the city

  November 10, 2009

• Did the Boulder City Council accidentally define illegal weed dealers as medical-marijuana businesses?

  The Boulder City Council pushed forward emergency rules about medical-marijuana businesses. Wonder how closely they read them.​Update below: Last night, the Boulder City Council considered imposing a temporary moratorium on new medical-marijuana operations -- and while members stopped short of putting an outright ban into place, they did establish a slew of restrictions. Through March 31, 2010, new dispensaries that didn't file before November 6 can't open in residential areas, or within

  November 11, 2009

• Should Boulder be the medical-marijuana epicenter of Colorado? A city council member says "no"

  Macon Cowles doesn't necessarily want to declare Boulder to be Colorado's medical-marijuana capital.​Medical marijuana is a smokin'-hot topic in Boulder these days, what with the city council this week implementing assorted restrictions on dispensaries -- and almost (but not quite) legitimizing any and all weed sellers, whether they're supplying licensed patients or not. Shortly thereafter, councilman Macon Cowles spoke to the Boulder Daily Camera about the possibility of creating a "'cit

  November 12, 2009

• Dude, where's my medical-marijuana ID?

  Timothy Dalton got his special license -- where's mine?​As part of a September feature on the state's growing medical marijuana scene, I went through the process of obtaining a state medical-marijuana ID. On August 26, after scoring the needed doctor's recommendation, I sent my application and a $90 application fee to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), which oversees the state's registry of medical-marijuana patients and issues state medical-marijuana cards.

  November 13, 2009

• Medical-marijuana fight brewing between Senator Chris Romer, weed advocates

  Should the number of medical-marijuana dispensaries be cut in half?​Senator Chris Romer has been the state legislator most willing to wade into the medical-marijuana morass -- and an article in yesterday's Boulder Daily Camera provides more information about a proposal he expects to offer in January on the subject. Among his ideas: All caregivers with more than two patients would have to acquire a license from the state -- and operations that didn't do more than simply providing marijuana

  November 16, 2009

• Senator Chris Romer's medical-marijuana ideas put many dispensaries -- and younger patients -- in the crosshairs

  Senator Chris Romer's gone to pot as an issue -- and medical-marijuana boosters don't like all his ideas.​Earlier today, we told you about a Boulder Daily Camera article in which Senator Chris Romer predicted that half the dispensaries in the state would go out of business if some of the ideas he has for legislation become law next year -- speculation that fired up the folks at the Cannabis Therapy Institute. In a subsequent conversation, Romer laid out more details, and while he made it

  November 16, 2009

• Attorney General John Suthers has to admit: Medical marijuana can be taxed

  "When I said, 'Put that in your pipe and smoke it,' I didn't mean it like that!"​Attorney General John Suthers has been the high-ranking state official most likely to imply that the sky is falling in relation to medical marijuana. No wonder he cheered a Colorado Court of Appeals ruling in the Stacy Clendenin case that aimed to tighten up the description of caregiver -- one that was tossed in Denver District Court when the Board of Health tried to adopt it too hurriedly. Betcha it pained h

  November 17, 2009

• Dr. Reefer takes on Senator Chris Romer

  Dr. Reefer is open for business in Boulder -- but not yet in Denver.​In a blog published yesterday, state senator Chris Romer said this while discussing some of his ideas for regulating the medical-marijuana industry: "The medical-marijuana community isn't the only stakeholder here. Lots of suburban parents are horrified when they drive their fifteen-year-old, who they want to keep focused on high school, down Broadway past Dr. Reefer. And they'll have a say about this as well." Turns out

  November 17, 2009

• Medical-marijuana caregiver fears restrictions in Fort Collins will further stigmatize her patients

  A Flickr photoNot everyone who uses medical marijuana is a whippersnapper.​At 6 p.m. tonight, the Fort Collins city council will consider an emergency ordinance to place a moratorium "upon the acceptance of applications for the issuance of licenses or permits related to businesses that seek to dispense medical marijuana." This action concerns Terri Lynn, a caregiver who operates as a private delivery service under the name Natural Alternatives For Health, and not only because she fears it

  November 17, 2009

• Live blog: Denver City Council considers medical-marijuana regulations

  Charlie Brown wants to put medical-marijuana businesses on a tighter leash.​Today, Councilman Charlie Brown is presenting his proposal for regulating the city's medical marijuana dispensaries to the Denver City Council's Safety committee. We live blogged the meeting. To read the account in chronological order, start at the bottom item below. 10:50 a.m.Councilman Linkhart calls up four industry representatives who've been invited to speak: an attorney who represents several dispensaries; M

  November 18, 2009

• From the week of November 19, 2009

  November 19, 2009

• Medical-marijuana-related crime is a problem, and could be worse than cops know, says drug-task-force commander

  Lt. Jerry Schiager says claims that medical marijuana hasn't increased crime aren't quite accurate.​Among those speaking about medical marijuana at last night's Fort Collins City Council meeting was Fort Collins Police Department Lt. Jerry Schiager, commander of the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force. In his remarks, he used a handful of grabby stats to contradict claims by weed advocates that the proliferation of medical marijuana doesn't cause an increase in crime. "There have been at le

  November 18, 2009

• Mile Highs and Lows: Walking Raven Dispensary

  ​As Colorado's medical-marijuana industry grows, marijuana dispensaries of all types and sizes are proliferating around the state. Some resemble swanky bars or sterile dentist offices; others feel like a dope dealer's college dorm room. To help keep them all straight, Westword will be offering a no-holds-barred look at what goes on behind these unusual operations' locked doors in "Mile Highs and Lows," a regular online review of dispensaries around the metro area and beyond. (You can also

  November 20, 2009

• Medical-marijuana price hikes from too many regulations worry Denver councilman

  Councilman Chris Nevitt doesn't want to give dispensaries an excuse to start buying from bad guys.​While some officials seem to see the ongoing medical-marijuana boom as a threat to all that's good and strong and true about our fair state, Denver city councilman Chris Nevitt is focusing on the practical questions that arise from the issue. Earlier this month, Nevitt talked about regulating dispensary food products that contain marijuana, among other things. But he wants to make sure rules

  November 20, 2009