Brian Vicente considers legalizing pot on the November ballot

To legalize or not to legalize? That could be a question for the November ballot. Last week, as thousands hazed up Civic Center in celebration of 4/20 and, just across the way, legislators inched closer to passing the country’s first state marijuana dispensary regulatory system, it seemed like Colorado marijuana…

Medical marijuana hearing sets up fight on the senate floor

Yesterday morning, we previewed a senate committee hearing on House Bill 1284, which is intended to regulate the medical marijuana industry, with Sensible Colorado’s Brian Vicente maintaining that he’s ready to push a ballot initiative if the final results are subpar from MMJ advocates’ perspective. The hearing wound up evolving…

Medical marijuana message from Matt Brown: Enough is enough

Today’s 2 p.m. senate committee hearing about House Bill 1284, a medical marijuana regulatory bill, is shaping up to be a showdown between legislators such as Senator Chris Romer, who’s talked about floating a slew of new, more restrictive amendments, and MMJ advocates who fear the measure is getting worse,…

DEA raids marijuana grow within a block of police station and school

Yesterday, Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a marijuana grow located in a warehouse at 1441 West 46th Avenue. The site’s unusual for a cultivation operation for a couple of reasons. It’s adjacent to the Denver Police Department District 1 station and about a block away from Remington Elementary School. Beyond…

Our updated medical-marijuana directory

Our latest “Mile Highs and Lows” dispensary review has just entered cyberspace: William Breathes critiques The Giving Tree, whose products are consistently moist — maybe a bit too much so. And there’s a lot more information where that came from. The Westword crew has spent the week updating our dispensary…

Medical marijuana dispensary review: The Giving Tree

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 is offering a no-holds-barred look at what goes on…

Marijuana and PTSD: Dispensary owner Wanda James reaches out to vets

Efforts to establish post-traumatic stress disorder as a condition treatable by medical marijuana fell short in the Colorado legislature last month. That was fine by the state’s health department, which circulated a fact sheet among legislators prior to vote on a PTSD amendment arguing that there’s no medical evidence MMJ…

4/20 at Civic Center: On the scene with our marijuana critic

Westword marijuana critic William Breathes is filing dispatches from the 4/20 celebration at Civic Center Park. Read from the bottom up to follow them in chronological order. 4:56 p.m.: Found my ride… Fun rally. As is always the case with the 4/20 rally, the actual event of smoking pot in…

4/20’s top ten trademark violations

If there’s one thing Denver’s marijuana movement has embraced, it’s a wanton disregard for federal laws. And no day illustrates this sentiment more than 4/20, when marijuana patients and exuberant scofflaws alike ascend on the Capitol to protest pot prohibition — and to offer reefer-eshing variations on commercial branding. Page…

Medical marijuana registry delays: Relief could be coming

As the number of people applying for Colorado medical marijuana licenses has multiplied, so has the amount of time required for the state to process all that paperwork. What started as a month delay stretched to three, then four months last fall. Now it’s seven or eight months — way…

4/20 event that’s weed-free? Catch some Natural Highs

The 4/20 event taking place at the University of Colorado at Boulder at 4:20 p.m. has been aptly described as “an orgasm of cannabis consumption.” But even as the smoke from that bash is inspiring a lot more flights than have taken off in Europe over the past week, a…

4/20 offer: Visit your legislator and get lei’d — for free

The International Cannabis Day festivities that kick off at 9 a.m. this morning at Civic Center Park have a major political component, as stressed in a recent interview with NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre, who’ll deliver the event’s “invocation.” As such, the Cannabis Therapy Institute is hoping to capitalize…

4/20 in Boulder preview: “An orgasm of cannabis consumption”

In an interview last week, NORML executive director Allen St. Pierre confirmed that he’ll be attending the politically oriented 4/20 rally at Denver’s Civic Center Park this year. It’ll be his second straight 4/20 in Colorado. Last year, he was at the bash at the University of Colorado at Boulder,…