Politics

Colorado officials have come forward to reveal more details over the secret marijuana enforcement meetings held over the past few days between local, state and federal officials. Earlier this week, KKTV 11 News and the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that the Department of Justice, the DEA and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) were meeting with Colorado officials to discuss “sensitive investigative information” pertaining marijuana. Although Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, who attended one of the meetings, eventually said that “most of the discussion centered around the huge black market that exists for marijuana in Colorado,” there was some speculation that these little governmental pow-wows actually centered on the highly publicized, yet still unconfirmed, federal pot …

TJ Baker | July 22, 2017 YORK, PA — Another city in Pennsylvania has voted to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a fine-only offense. Earlier this week, the York City Council voted to decriminalize the possession of under 30 grams of marijuana, reducing the penalty to a maximum fine of $100 and no jail time for first-time offenders. A second offense within five years would result in a fine of $300, with a third carrying a $600 fine.  For those that can not afford to pay the fines, there is an option for offenders to perform community service instead. Under state law, marijuana possession is a criminal misdemeanor that carried up to 30 days in jail, a $500 …

‘The Haymaker’ is Leafly Deputy Editor Bruce Barcott’s weekly column on cannabis politics and culture. If you caught new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci’s debut press conference today, you know a few things about the Mooch. He is: Slick Articulate Confident A sharp dresser Reassuring in tone Handy with the quip and joke A big fan of President Trump Fox News’ idea of a devilishly handsome gentleman No longer available for that role as the third Shark in “West Side Story” Say what you will about the man’s employment choices and his boss’s behavior: Mooch is a three-step upgrade for the shop that brought you Shrub-Hiding Spicey. Not ten minutes into Scaramucci’s Briefing Room debut, though, the indefatigable Tom …

Yesterday, President Duda signed Poland’s medical cannabis bill into law, making Poland the latest European Union member country to permit the use of medical marijuana. Cannabis reform in Poland has moved fast and steady in the last couple of months. Near the end of June, a bill to allow medical marijuana in the European nation was overwhelmingly voted forward by Poland’s Lower House of Parliament. The proposed legislation had incredible support with 440 in favour and 2 against. In the first week of July, the nation’s Health Care Committee gave their recommendation for legalization to move forward. This approval effectively paved the way to the office of President Andrzej Duda who signed the bill into law on July 20th. Pharmacists …

Is this all they’ve got? In an effort to discredit the Obama family name and throw shade at a teenager trying to prepare for her freshman year of college, the conservative clown car of a website, FreedomCrossroads.us published a story claiming that Malia Obama was fired from a summer job at the U.S. Embassy in Spain for smoking weed. The story is 100% false, but that hasn’t stopped frog meme fans and white supremacists from sharing and retweeting with glee. Let’s break down the claims and see just how gullible these keyboard conservatives really are.  First of all, as the fine folks at Snopes pointed out, Malia worked at the Embassy in Madrid last year, and did not return this year for more …

For the twelfth month in a row, combined medical and recreational sales in Colorado have surpassed $100 million, as the state Department of Revenue reports sales for May topped $127.7 million, according to state figures outlined by Forbes. Since the beginning of this year, cannabis sales in Colorado have totaled $620 million, with $95 million paid to the state in taxes. Separately, a VS Strategies report found that Colorado has reaped $506,143,635 in taxes and fees derived from the legal cannabis since legal sales began on Jan. 1, 2014. According to the report, 51.3 percent of those funds have been used for K-12 education, including $117.9 million for school construction projects, and $5.7 million for the Public School Fund. Mason …

Partner Colorado Credit Union has created a Credit Union Service Organization to serve other credit unions interested in serving the cannabis space, according to a Credit Union Times report. The program, called Safe Harbor Private Banking, is designed as a stand-alone company that seeks to “expand the (Partner Colorado) cannabis banking program nationally and help other financial institutions solve the issue of the unbanked cannabis industry,” said Sundie Seefried, Partner Colorado CEO. Currently, the Safe Harbor program run by the credit union banks $80 million monthly from state-approved cannabis industry operators. Seefried will continue to oversee Partner Colorado’s Safe Harbor program as well as the credit union. Matthew Cochran, a business and product development with more than 20 years of …

In just a matter of two months, people caught in possession of small amounts of marijuana in New Hampshire will no longer have to worry about being arrested or serving time in jail. On Tuesday, Governor Chris Sununu put his signature of a piece of legislation designed to eliminate the criminal penalties associated with marijuana possession. The new law, which is set to take effect in 60 days, will allow anyone caught with up to three quarters of an ounce of flower or five grams of hash to simply pay a fine between $100 and $300 instead of being thrown to the wolves of the criminal justice system. However, for those unfortunate souls who make it habit of getting picked …

As the Trump administration works to tackle the nation’s opioid crisis, a pair of US senators have submitted a number of suggested reforms to the White House—including the use of medical cannabis as an alternative to opioid-based painkillers. “In 2016, more people in Connecticut died from drug overdoses than from homicides, suicides, and car accidents combined.” Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal In correspondence sent to the President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal submitted a number of recommendations, including ideas on how those who are fighting the opioid epidemic can work together more efficiently, and how addiction treatment and prevention programs can be implemented more effectively. “We write today …

Warren “Smokey” Thomas, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union, has a reputation as a strong leader and a man of conviction, so when he told colleagues he thought the union should consider providing coverage of medical cannabis for employees, they took heed. “It was discussed at a few meetings and nobody disagreed with him,” Ilana Goodman, administrator of employee relations at OPSEU, told Leafly. “Everyone thought it was a great thing to do.” Last month, OSEU began rolling out a new benefit providing medical cannabis coverage for its roughly 300 employees. The union, which represents 130,000 public sector employees in Ontario, is among a growing number of employers providing coverage of medical cannabis in response to heightened demand and …