The Gazette, 20 Sep 2010 – Once more The Gazette offers an editorial supporting medical marijuana, (Sept. 16) arguing "an above-ground, regulated, taxed, store-front trade is better than a trade regulated to the black market or neighborhood basements." Inference: we must accept either one or the other. If we adopt your logic, accepting the first (regulated, taxed drug trade) presumably would help us avoid the damaging effects of the latter (illegal drug trade).

Denver Post, 10 Sep 2010 – Chris Bartkowicz, the Highlands Ranch medical-marijuana grower facing federal drug charges for his basement operation, said Thursday that he was panicked and scared when agents confronted him outside his house. In the first time he has publicly said more than a few words about his February arrest, Bartkowicz said he was reluctant to talk to the Drug Enforcement Administration agents who would eventually arrest him and hesitant about letting them search his house. But, he said, he ultimately thought he could address their concerns.

Denver Daily News, 07 Sep 2010 – Medical Pot Advocates Concerned About Draft Rules for Industry Medical marijuana advocates are concerned that proposed new regulations for the industry will result in patient tracking, scaring patients away from wanting to be a part of the system.

Aspen Daily News, 07 Sep 2010 – Beginning last week, Colorado law mandated that medical marijuana dispensaries grow — or have a plan to grow — 70 percent of their own product, and Pitkin County officials are now evaluating how they ought to regulate the rural pot farms linked with local shops. Five marijuana farms are zoned for agricultural use in Pitkin County, according to county community development director Lance Clarke. Growers statewide were required to report themselves to local jurisdictions by July 1, when state regulations went into effect, along with a moratorium on new pot operations.

The Daily Times-Call, 04 Sep 2010 – The area around the 67-acre Szymanski Farms property at 10437 Yellowstone Road, north of Longmont, is lightly populated. But it appears that most of the area’s residents were against the Boulder County commissioners’ approval of Laramie, Wyo., resident Scott Mullner’s request to change the property’s use to allow an indoor medical marijuana growing operation there at some point in the future.

The Gazette, 04 Sep 2010 – It’s been said that Moses smoked the burning bush, that the Book of Revelation was written in a drug-induced state, and that most religions began with mystical experiences enhanced by hallucinogens. These fringe ideas have found a place at some of the 176 medical marijuana dispensaries that have sprung up in Colorado Springs. But there are also a handful of dispensaries that use religious terminology and imagery while claiming no religious affiliation.

The Gazette, 03 Sep 2010 – City Planning Commission to Consider Rules Sept. 16 Medical marijuana dispensaries, grow operations and facilities making edible products would be restricted to commercial and industrial zones in Colorado Springs and banned within 400 feet of schools, alcohol or drug treatment facilities or residential child care homes under rules drafted by city planners.

The Gazette, 04 Sep 2010 – Amendment 20 was passed by Colorado voters in 2000. It calls for the use of Medical Marijuana (MMJ) by individuals with "debilitating medical conditions" who have received an MMJ card through the state Health Department. It was designed to deliver the drug through a caregiver model allowing a caregiver to provide MMJ to a very limited number of patients. It also allows for a patient to grow his or her own personal supply of MMJ. For years, this model worked well and provided MMJ for up to 4,000 patients statewide. In 2008 however, the Obama administration declared that, within states with MMJ laws, there would no longer be any federal enforcement of marijuana laws. Add to this an appellate court decision that essentially said that the omission of a definition or even mention of dispensaries within Amendment 20 meant that they must be legal, and suddenly the number of MMJ card applications skyrocketed. Also skyrocketing over the past two years is the number of dispensaries, large scale grow operations and infused products operations.

The Daily Sentinel, 03 Sep 2010 – After dumping about $20,000 into his medical marijuana dispensary to comply with recent state regulations, Robert Ingalsbe was devastated Thursday to learn that the Grand Junction City Council planned to close his shop. During a workshop Wednesday night, City Council members voiced their intent to shutter the city’s estimated 14 pot shops, a decision that heads to a formal vote later this month. The timing couldn’t have been worse for dispensary owners who recently invested large sums with the state for licenses and to adhere to new regulations.