Glenwood Springs Post Independent, 22 Jan 2013 – This letter is written to the Garfield County commissioners and the mayors and trustees of our local governments, who may be confused about the difference between marijuana and hemp and who do not fully grasp the significant economic development and livable wage jobs creation opportunities that industrial hemp offers to the citizens of Garfield County. With the November passage of Amendment 64, the voters of Colorado amended Article 18 of the Colorado Constitution to de-criminalize marijuana and establish statewide excise tax revenues on the sale of cannabis, and to allow for the statewide cultivation and commercialization of industrial hemp. The amendment declares that industrial hemp must be regulated separately from marijuana, and requires the Colorado General Assembly to "enact legislation governing the cultivation, processing, and the sale of industrial hemp."
US CO: PUB LTE: To The Point
Denver Post, 20 Jan 2013 – Get it straight, anti-marijuana crusaders: No one wants minors using pot any more than we want them using nicotine and alcohol. Legalization and regulation will help prevent underage use more than the policies of the past did. Jimi Bernath, Englewood – — MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
US CO: PUB LTE: Patrick Kennedy’s Criticism of Legalizing
Denver Post, 21 Jan 2013 – Re: "Pot debate isn’t just legalization vs. incarceration," Jan. 12 guest commentary. Thanks for publishing this guest commentary by Patrick J. Kennedy and Kevin A. Sabet. I encourage everyone to be wary of overblown statements made by members of either side of cannabis debate. The plant is unlike alcohol or tobacco, so alleged parallels require extremely cautious interpretation. Many of the purported consequences of the plant actually arise from prohibition itself, economic factors, or biases in the interpretation of scientific research.
US CO: LTE: Patrick Kennedy’s Criticism of Legalizing Marijuana
Denver Post, 21 Jan 2013 – I appreciate the thoughtful commentary by Patrick J. Kennedy and Kevin A. Sabet. Marijuana is not cotton candy. Jailing people for using or possessing does not prevent its sale or use. One of my concerns: secondhand pot smoke. How do we protect people like me in a condominium from unwillingly sharing our neighbors’ pot smoke as it filters through our shared air? If limits are set for driving under its influence, what happens to drivers who have involuntarily breathed smoke at a concert or party? Medical benefits have been proven. Yet I question whether hazards are being as closely observed.
US CO: DA Bows Out Of Fight Over Medical Marijuana Evidence
The Gazette, 16 Jan 2013 – El Paso County prosecutors are taking a new tack in the battle over medical marijuana held by police in the wake of failed prosecutions. They want out of the fight. The 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office last week said it had declined to take a position on a demand by Rocky Mountain Miracles owner Alvida Hillery that police return her marijuana or hand over $3.3 million in compensation after her December jury acquittal on felony drug charges.
US CO: PUB LTE: Brings To Light A Powerful Problem
The Gazette, 12 Jan 2013 – I just wanted to take a moment to thank The Gazette for printing the Jan. 7 story on medical marijuana. I thought the writer (Lance Benzel) took a risk by including some Elisa Kappelmann quotes that excoriated District Attorney Dan May’s handling of the case, and personally, I thought they were justified. I am a former Republican precinct chair who followed the case closely because one of my clients was working in the field. I watched the District Attorney’s office bully and bluff their way through a case that seemed aimed at ruining a life in order to frighten the industry. Thankfully they failed, but it brings to light a powerful problem. At the end of the day, a powerful DA who takes aim at a common citizen can literally ruin their lives. There is little joy for Bob Crouse or Kappelmann after winning their respective medical marijuana cases. What they are left with is a huge loss of income (Bob lost his house in the deal) and the weight of a possible jail sentence lifted – all because they had the audacity to push the DA on an issue that he clearly has a personal vendetta against. (Witness May’s comment about opening a liquor store.) May has done some good things for El Paso County. His handling of this issue, however, lacks integrity and dispassionate reasoned thinking. His errors in judgment have cost this county’s taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, soon to be millions if any kind of award is given to marijuana growers whose product has been damaged.
US CO: Growing Like A Weed
Columbus Dispatch, 13 Jan 2013 – DENVER – Inside the industrial-scale marijuana farms that dot Denver’s low-rise warehouse districts, it is perpetual summer – 78 degrees, with moderate humidity and fields of shoulder-high plants with fat, sticky buds swaying in the breeze. These unmarked THC factories are easy to miss from the street, except for the casino-style security cameras perched on each corner. But inside the world’s only fully regulated, for-profit marijuana market, there are few secrets.
