News

Let Cannabis Companies Operate Like Other Legitimate Businesses

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That was the clear message delivered from Ron Kammerzell, who oversaw the Marijuana Enforcement Division at the Colorado Department of Revenue, and Nate Bruggeman, an assistant attorney general at the Colorado Department of Law’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. 

“One specific area that warrants serious consideration is the prohibition on publicly traded companies from holding marijuana business licenses or investing in Colorado marijuana companies,” they wrote in The Denver Post. Not only does the prohibition not enhance public safety, they said, it “is depriving Colorado businesses of access to needed investment capital.”

Kammerzell and Bruggeman also suggested that Colorado update, simplify and streamline it’s marijuana laws.  

Denver Post Article »

Headlines

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Too many rules?

Denver’s program to permit cannabis social clubs is struggling.

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Otherwise, Denver’s marijuana businesses flourishing

New report says city’s effective regulation has created jobs and generated tax revenue.

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Jefferson County gets grant to steer kids away from cannabis

School district uses grant to hire three new school nurses and six social and emotional learning specialists.

KDVR Story »

Cannabis-related nonprofit incubator coming to Denver

Founders say Nuvolution aims to help fund education and research efforts.

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Studies validate success of Colorado’s cannabis marketplace

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Competition up …

Colorado’s marijuana industry is maturing quite nicely, thank you. That’s the conclusion of new report commissioned by the Colorado Department of Revenue, which says the industry is seeing increased competition and meeting demand for residents and tourists alike, compared to 2014 estimates that the legal market was only supplying 65 percent of demand. 

“This report gives me comfort that the licensed, regulated commercial marketplace is working well and is part of the state’s continuous effort to monitor a comprehensive marijuana regulatory framework, improve transparency and use data to inform the public about Colorado’s marketplace,” Mike Hartman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue, said in a press release.

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Headlines

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Hickenlooper on cannabis and autism

Gov. John Hickenlooper talks to Slate about why he vetoed a bill allowing medical cannabis for autism. Hint: He repeats the claim that “certain people (with autism) that have an inclination to bipolar . . . can take this high THC marijuana and it will trigger a permanent response. In other words, make them almost schizophrenic.”

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Cannabis builds new rec center for Aurora

A new $40 million recreation center is being funded entirely by Aurora’s marijuana tax revenue.

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Legal cannabis credited for rising home values

New research by Economic Inquiry finds that legalizing retail sales of marijuana in Colorado increased housing values by about 6 percent.

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Marijuana use on the rise, but not with kids

New state report shows cannabis consumption increasing in Colorado, but only among adults.

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The Good, the Bad and the Fake 

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First the good …

The first-ever report from Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research says the marijuana industry has had a net positive economic impact of more than $35 million in Pueblo County. At the same time, researchers say they found little conclusive evidence to support arguments that marijuana legalization has increased homelessness or contributed to other widespread social change.

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Now the bad…

Colorado’s congressional delegation was unable to do an end-run around Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the latest federal funding bill. They and more than a dozen other lawmakers wanted to include a provision to prohibit the Justice Department from cracking down on recreational marijuana use in states where it is legal.

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And the really fake …

If there’s one thing we learned in last year’s elections, you can’t believe everything you read. This month, this old hoax about Colorado McDonald’s restaurants installing marijuana “smoking pods” started making the rounds again. And no, it’s still not true.

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LEADership 

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Colorado’s success in implementing a successful legal recreational marijuana industry is in part due to the commitment by small business owners to give back to their communities.

Native Roots, for instance, which has nearly two dozen medical and recreational dispensaries across the state, proved last year that being a strong corporate citizen is more than just a phrase on a wall. Its staff committed more than 450 hours of community service around the state, the company donated more than $15,750 to hurricane relief and workers participated in a variety of communities to plant trees, held clothing and food drives, and participated in neighborhood cleanups and voter registration drives.

Colorado marijuana sales hit $1 billion in first eight months of 2017

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Colorado’s legal marijuana industry generated a record $1 billion in sales during the first eight months of 2017, producing more than $160 million in taxes and fees for critical Colorado services.

With more than $1.02 billion in collective medical and recreational sales through August, sales are up 21 percent from the same period last year, according to The Cannabist, the marijuana news portal of The Denver Post, which analyzed state tax data released last week.

This equates to more than $162 million in taxes and fees for the state, which has received more than half a billion dollars in tax revenue since the first marijuana retail store opened its doors three-and-a-half-years ago.

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Home Sweet Home 

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Legalization of marijuana does not negatively impact home values, and in some cases, positively impacts home values, according to  first-of-its-kind study of Denver by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison  University of Georgia and California State University.  If you don’t want to read the whole study, here are your Top Five Takeaways:

  1. Property values have risen faster within 528 feet of medical marijuana shops that added or converted to recreational marijuana.
  2. Home values increased 8.4 percent, an average of about $27,000, since Jan. 1, 2014, when recreational marijuana joined the medical marketplace in Denver. Overall home prices in Denver have risen 6 percent since legalization.
  3. Home values located more than .1 miles away from a retail shop are not impacted positively or negatively.
  4. Some underlying factors may have contributed to the increased property values in vicinities closest to dispensaries, including lower crime rates, additional amenities nearby and a surge in housing demand because of Denver’s growing marijuana sector.
  5. In addition to business and sales taxes, municipalities may get an extra boost from increased property taxes.