News

Colorado Leads Submits Public Comment in Support of Federal Rescheduling

Colorado Leads submitted a public comment in support of the Department of Justice’s proposed rule to transfer marijuana from schedule I to schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.

As the leading marijuana business association in the nation’s longest- running state-regulated marijuana market, we are uniquely positioned to help inform DOJ’s analysis. We also felt it was imperative that we participate in the rescheduling process since it will directly and substantially impact our businesses, our industry as a whole, and our state and local communities.

Our comment begins by explaining how Colorado’s experience and public policies support HHS’s conclusions that:

  • marijuana has a currently accepted medical use in treatment; and
  • marijuana has less potential for abuse than substances in schedules I and II, as well as alcohol, which is an unscheduled substance.

DOJ specifically solicited comments on the economic impact of the proposed rule, recognizing it may significantly affect a substantial number of small entities, including state-regulated marijuana businesses that would no longer be subject to section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code. It could also impact entities that engage in marijuana research, which may be subject to different protocols set by the DEA.

Colorado Leads surveyed its membership regarding the impact they expect it could have on their businesses, and we offered some of the insights that were shared, along with our analysis of the impact rescheduling could have on our industry, state, and local communities. We also reached out to leaders of Colorado’s marijuana research community to get their thoughts.

Read Colorado Leads’ full public comment.

Colorado’s First Licensed Cannabis Research Facility

The City of Denver issued its first license specifically for medical marijuana research and development. Med Pharm received the license to begin examining the effects of marijuana on Alzheimer’s disease.

“We are excited for the possibilities for this type of medical research to find effective research for a whole host of illnesses,” said Ashley Kilroy, the City of Denver’s Executive Director of Excise and Licenses. “Also we really see this license-type in particular, a license that could attract some of the best and brightest to Denver to attract this type of work.”

Med Pharm, a phytopharmaceutical and intellectual property holding company, was created to develop innovative cannabis products, using accepted pharmaceutical formulation techniques, to reliably produce identifiable and replicable dosage forms for human use.  And Colorado Leads member, Andy Williams, is on its board.

In the News

Member in the News: 

Bob DeGabrielle, CEO of Los Sueños Farms, talked to Westword about the problems cannabis growers face when hit with severe and unpredictable weather. Growers aren’t allowed under Colorado law to move plants off the property during a weather emergency.  

“From a bud product prospective, we felt like we lost about $7 million last year,” he said.

There is a bill in the state House of Representatives that would require the MED to create regulations allowing outdoor marijuana growers to make contingency plans when extreme weather threatens their plants.

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Amen 

Cannabis entrepreneurs are flocking to the Bible Belt because of its low taxes.

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More taxes? 

Newly elected Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman supports a cannabis tax increase to fund city programs.

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Another first for Colorado 

The state’s first licensed cannabis R&D firm is set to study marijuana’s effect on Alzheimer’s disease. MedPharm Holdings is the only company in the state that holds a marijuana research and development license. 

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Move to overturn the will of the voters 

Initiative 282 would repeal Amendment 64 and remove language permitting recreational use of cannabis in the state constitution.  Title Board hears the case today. 

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The fight against opioid addiction continues 

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have announced a new study to determine if CBD can help minimize opioid withdrawal symptoms. More than 130 people a day lose their lives from opioid-connected drug overdoses, and CBD is a “promising pharmacotherapy for the treatment of opioid withdrawal.”  

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 The first known case of a cannabis-associated, 12-hour erection 

 

“Clinicians in a recently published case study have concluded that cannabis was the likely culprit behind a 32-year-old man’s persistent, painful erections. It’s a rare and curious example of marijuana being associated with what’s known in medical jargon as priapism—an erection lasting more than four hours that’s not related to sexual activity.”

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CBD or THC? 

A common forensic drug testing method could easily mistake the presence of CBD for THC.  The stakes are high, considering that even in states that have legalized marijuana, it remains legal for employers, child protective services, public housing authorities and other entities to test for THC.

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Cannabis Research 

The University of California San Diego School of Medicine’s Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research announced $3 million in grants to study medical cannabis as a supplementary or alternative treatment for schizophrenia, rheumatoid arthritis, insomnia, alcohol dependence and anxiety linked to anorexia.

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Medical News 

 

Harvard University’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found a chemical in cannabis that has demonstrated “significant therapy potential” in treatment of pancreatic cancer.  The study is the first to show not only a potential new treatment for pancreatic cancer, but other cancers.  The scientists were “startled” to find the cannabis was capable of attacking other cancer cells.  

The kids are alright

Researchers at Colorado State University Pueblo have released a new study that says “living in a community with recreational marijuana does not appear to influence area high schoolers’ use of cannabis or their attitudes towards it.” 

 “Based on the 2013 and 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey data,” the study states, “permitting or not permitting recreational cannabis dispensaries in a community does not appear to change student cannabis use or perceptions towards cannabis.”

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If you aren’t sure what to make of this, you aren’t alone 

A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder in Frontiers in Public Health finds that  80% of cannabis smokers mix the drug with their workouts. The same study goes as far as suggesting the mixture may be beneficial for some.

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