News

More Data Shows Less Crime 


A new study finds that Colorado’s legal cannabis industry
has decreased crime in neighboring states. 

Border counties in the Colorado region saw substantial decreases in overall property crime rate and larceny rate relative to non-border counties following Colorado’s legalization,” according to the study.   “This finding suggests that recreational marijuana legalization in a state (e.g., Colorado) may not bring about negative consequences on crime in neighboring states, which challenges the assertions made by public officials in these neighboring states arguing a crime-inducing effect of legalization.”

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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.

Yeah, let’s legalize … something? 

Tim Childers, one of 12 Frankfort City Commission candidates, lit a marijuana pipe while answering a question during a live video debate.

“Let’s go against the state and legalize something,” Childers said as he held a lighter to his marijuana pipe. “Big money in that. Bunch of states doing it. I have the answers — candidate with solutions, people.”

The coronavirus may hit the cannabis industry

 

The economic fallout, that is. So far, the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in lower sales and some cannabis-related events have been canceled. And a lot of inexpensive cannabis hardware is made in China.

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File under: So what does this mean for the industry?

Trump’s new chief of staff, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) is anti-marijuana and has  consistently opposed efforts to scale back the war on marijuana. He was one of 12 GOP lawmakers who sent a letter thanking a committee chairman for delaying consideration of a House-passed bill to increase marijuana businesses’ access to banks.

“We remain opposed to liberalizing drug laws (including around banking), and we see these as some of our areas of greatest concern,” Meadows and his colleagues wrote. “We must protect our youth by preventing investment into companies that would prey upon them.”

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Give us banking, already! 

 

So says 50 state banking associations, which demanded the U.S. Senate vote on marijuana banking legislation. The group sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee on Friday, imploring them to advance a bill protecting financial institutions that service state-legal marijuana businesses.

“Although there are admittedly broader public policy questions at play, we ask that you evaluate and address this pressing banking problem, which is within your power to resolve,” the letter concludes. “Doing so will reap immediate public safety, tax and regulatory benefits while Congress continues to grapple with broader decisions about national drug policy.”

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Check out these women leaders in cannabis 

In honor of International Women’s Day, Vice looks at eight female leaders in the cannabis industry. They are  pretty amazing. 

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Photo credit: Jennifer Skog/MJ Lifestyle

Colorado Leads Members: In their own words 

Bob Eschino

President of Medically Correct, LLC

What do you/your company specialize in? 

We are one of the country’s largest infused edible manufacturers and extract companies. We specialize in quality, consistent edibles using multiple delivery methods and cannabinoid ratios for patients and customers in need.

What prompted you to enter the cannabis industry?

I watched cannabis work for my grandmother when pharmaceuticals had failed her.  It helped with her pain, appetite and sleep.  Seeing cannabis work as medicine compelled me to figure out a way to get quality medicine to patients in need.  Since that time, we have worked to get easier, safer access to cannabis for patients.  We have been on the forefront of accurate and clean product manufacturing and legitimate health alternatives.

What do you consider to be your most significant business accomplishment?  

We sell over one million products a year in Colorado alone to patients and I’m proud that we are able to help so many people.  We also employ over 100 people in Colorado and help contribute to the local economy.  We also provide assistance to our local schools and shelters, giving back to our community where we can.

What do you consider to be your most significant business failure? 

Not being able to effectively navigate the banking regulations to allow us to grow at a quicker pace.  Not having access to capital has slowed the companies growth at times.

What is your next business goal?  

To continue to help shape cannabis regulations not only in Colorado, but at the federal level as well.  I want to see the industry become federally legal, so we can help patients across the globe.

On the border

Expansion of legal cannabis markets in the U.S. has fundamentally disrupted demand for illegal cannabis imports. Overall, the amount of cannabis intercepted along all U.S. borders fell 89% from 2011 to 2019.  Along the southwestern border, where 99% of all intercepted cannabis has been collected, those incidents have decreased by 90% since 2011 Why? 

  • Consumers are increasingly transitioning to legal markets
  • As legal product options improve, consumer incentives evaporate for the purchase or jeopardy of low-quality cannabis.
  • The vaping crisis underscored risks about unregulated products.

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Related:

The DEA admits – buried within a 190-page submission to Congress – that state-level cannabis legalization reduces illegal market demand.

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Republicans – and the Kochs – for Cannabis?

Why, yes. Republican state lawmakers, a former federal prosecutor, Koch Industries, NBA champion Kevin Garnett and criminal justice reform advocates delivered a letter to President Trump, imploring him to grant pardons or commutations to people serving time in federal prison for non-violent marijuana offenses.

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