Posts

News

Guv’ners

/in , /by

Our current governor continues to tout the benefits of a legal, regulated cannabis industry

Gov. Polis appeared on CNBC recently talking up the economic contributions of legalized marijuana, notably “nearly $50 million on marijuana sales in just 2 months in April and May.” Check out his full appearance here »

While the former governor – who is running for president –has “evolved slowly” on the issue.

Hickenlooper is not an advocate for marijuana use, saying that “he sometimes wonders if his own past marijuana use could have impaired his memory.”

More » 

•••

But he was also criticized for “revisionist history” when he took credit for cannabis legalization during the debates last week. 

More »

Ouch . . . Again

/in , /by

Presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper blasted for what some call cannabis revisionist history. 

A fundraising appeal from the former two-term governor appeared as though he were taking credit for the state’s legalization of marijuana in 2014 as well as some of the incremental changes that preceded the full-on legalization.

“While I was Governor, Colorado became the first state to legalize marijuana. And we worked to address the social and racial inequities that plague marijuana sentencing,” one of the images from the post said.

“This seems like an egregious revision of history to claim you were at all progressive on social justice issues related to cannabis,” tweeted Jake Browne, a former marijuana critic for the Denver Post.

Read More »

Hickenlooper on cannabis

/in , /by

The latest on where former Colorado governor and current Presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper stands on cannabis. 

Click Here »

Autism Advance

/in , /by

Colorado’s House last week passed a bill 63-0 allowing medical marijuana for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The Senate is expected to pass it as well, and Gov. Jared Polis has pledged to sign it.  

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper vetoed a similar bill last year – as well as another bill allowing publicly traded corporations to invest in marijuana businesses.  At the time, Hickenlooper said that if the autism bill was signed into law, “we end up, without question, in some way encouraging more young people to look at this as an antidote for their problems.”  

Hickenlooper is now touring the country as he considers a presidential bid, touting Colorado’s cannabis industry.  He noted at an event hosted by The Brookings Institution that he was “famously against” legalization, especially because of the possibility that more teenagers might increase their consumption, but that now “we’re seeing evidence that the new system [of marijuana legalization] is intrinsically better” than prohibition.  “We haven’t seen a spoke in teenage consumption… our worst fears have not happened,” he said.   

Hmm. 

Read More »

Headlines

/in , , , , , /by

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.”

Read More »

 

Cannabis builds new rec center for Aurora

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

More Here »

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.

Read More »

Marijuana use on the rise, but not with kids

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

Read the Story »

More Here »

The changing politics of marijuana

/in , , /by

Nothing’s ever certain when it comes to politics, a fact that has become increasingly clear in recent weeks both at home and in Washington, D.C.

Here in Colorado Gov. Joh Hickenlooper, long considered supportive of the strictly-regulated marijuana industry, vetoed three industry-backed measures – including one that allowed for increased capital infusions into the state, which is crucial for keeping the industry growing in the state. It was a disappointing veto that not only jeopardizes tens of thousands of jobs but also ignores the professionals that worked tirelessly during his term to build the safest and most respected cannabis industry in the country.

Representatives from the cannabis industry expressed their discontent with the vetoes at a press conference.  Three Colorado Leads members are quoted here. 

Read the Story »

 

Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., U.S.  Sen.  Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, introduced a bill that would protect the cannabis industry from uncertain federal enforcement policies.

“It’s time that we take this industry out of the shadows,” Gardner said. 

Read the Story »

 

Hickenlooper comments renew debate over role of marijuana in crime 

/in , , /by

Gov. John Hickenlooper, intentionally or not, stepped into the contentious debate over whether legal marijuana is behind rising crime rates when he said he would consider recriminalizing recreational marijuana if it were indeed proven to be a driving factor. Beyond the sensational headlines, however, the governor said the connection seems unlikely. And Denver Police Commander James Henning says he doubts that the rise in crime stems from cannabis reform, noting the data is inconclusive.

WTVR Story »

More »