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CategoriesAnalysis/Opinion, Growing, Guides, List, Medical by

5 States Where You Can Grow Your Own Cannabis

While many individuals in the U.S. live where they could spend years in jail for cultivating cannabis, others are able to grow freely. Of the 30 plus states that have medicinal cannabis programs and the 10 states that have legalized adult consumption, there are many that also allow for home cultivation. Some however are not as lenient as others. If you are looking to move to a state where you can legally and freely grow, check out the list below which includes the 5 best states in the U.S. for growing cannabis at home.

Maine

Maine legalized medical cannabis in 1999 and voters also approved a recreational market for adults in 2016. Thanks to these changes in the law, adults over the age of 21 are able to grow. Laws allow them to cultivate up to 6 mature plants, 12 immature plants and be in possession of unlimited seedlings in their residents. They must, however, be grown in a locked and enclosed environment unless being transported. There is a 12 mature plant limit per household, however, municipalities have the option of allowing up to 18 plants per household for personal adult consumption.

Michigan

Per the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008, a caregiver with a registry identification card is able to cultivate cannabis. The law allows them to cultivate up to 12 plants for each registered qualifying patient that they are specified as the primary caregiver for by the state program. Patients are not allowed to cultivate cannabis themselves and cultivation for personal adult recreational consumption is also not permitted. Caregivers are able to cultivate up to 72 cannabis plants total in an enclosed and locked environment.

Nevada

In Nevada, both medical cannabis and recreational cannabis for adults has been legalized and dispensaries are operational. In addition,  if you live more than 25 miles from a dispensary, you are able to grow your own. For adults, there is a 6-plant max limit with up to 12 plants total for a household. For medical cannabis patients who live more than 25 miles from a dispensary, they are able to grow up to 12 mature cannabis plants at once in the privacy of their own home.

Washington

Medical cannabis patients in the state of Washington are able to grow up to 6 mature plants for their medical use. In certain circumstances where a healthcare professional believes this is not sufficient, that limit can be increased. The maximum plant count that a medical cannabis patient in the state can receive is 15 plants. Unfortunately, if you are not a medical cannabis patient in the state you are not able to grow.

Colorado

Colorado was the first state to legalize an adult retail cannabis market. They also allow for growing your own at home. Any adult resident in the state of Colorado is allowed to cultivate up to 6 cannabis plants at any time. This is as long as no more than 3 are in the mature/flowering stage at one time. There is, however, a 12-plant limit per household for adult personal consumption. Colorado residents that opt to grow their own are required to do so in an enclosed and locked environment.
At one time, Colorado allowed for medical cannabis patients or their assigned caregivers to grow up to 99 plants per patient. This law however changed in 2017. The new law allows for medical cannabis patients to grow the same amount of plants at home as recreational consumers. Patients, however, can receive approval for a higher plant count, though if they do, it must be assigned to a medical cannabis dispensary as their caregiver and cannot be grown at home.
Check out a full breakdown of cultivation laws throughout the U.S. here.
Can you grow where you live? What do you feel the laws surrounding home cultivation should be? Let us know in the comments below!

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CategoriesMarijuana News by

Investors Hope to Enter Colorado Marijuana Market

Colorado has come a long way in recent years.

Investors are excited by Colorado’s proposed changes to their recreational marijuana laws. As the state that started the green revolution, Colorado understands the challenges and risks of a recreational market. At first, the state wanted to ensure that the established medical marijuana community was protected from the financial machinations of outside interests. Specific protections were included in the legislation that ensured mom-and-pop marijuana producers had a chance to compete.
These protections mainly took the form of restrictions on who could become a licensed producer in the state. Only people, not corporations or other business entities could apply for a license, and there were additional limits on who those people could be. Prospective canna-investors had to have 2 years of residency established in addition to all other restrictions.
But over the last few years, many of those restrictions have eased. Most notably when the residency requirements were reduced to only one year. But new states joining the revolution have put enough pressure on the state they are looking to keep growth high.

California changes the landscape.

Continuing cannabis reform is a positive for the entire industry. But that reform can have localized consequences that make states like Colorado reevaluate their policies. With California throwing its economic weight into the recreational mix, other states can’t compete. Potential talent, businesses and investors understand that the sheer size of California’s economy eclipses every other state combined.
So Colorado is looking to make itself more attractive. Colorado Representative Dan Pabon feels that the best move is to open the state to outside investors. So he and three other members of the House sponsored HB1011. He explained the impetus for introducing the legislation by saying, “With the advent of California and Oregon and other states coming online, there’s much more competition for capital investment and financial resources. … We didn’t want Colorado to be left behind in any way.”
The biggest change from the new legislation is the removal of investor limits. If the bill passes, an unlimited number of investors can enter the Colorado cannabis industry. Investors may also be non-humans like corporations or other organizations. Something the current law strictly prohibits. But legislators believe the potential benefits of the changes could outweigh the costs it incurs.

Advocates aren’t sold on the idea yet.investors

Legislators aren’t the only ones saying the move is a good idea. Colorado-based Marijuana Industry Group executive director Kristi Kelly said “This legislation will ensure that Colorado maintains its position as a leader in the cannabis industry by leveling the playing field with the other states that do not prohibit publicly traded company participation in the industry,” He drove home his point by finishing with “It’s crucial to open up this option to businesses of all sizes, with the appropriate guardrails to maintain the integrity of our regulated businesses. New access to capital benefits small and large businesses alike. Colorado is the only place where this prohibition exists.”
But the executive director of the Colorado branch of NORML, Ashley Weber, says her organization has mixed feelings on HB1011. She told reporters “It’s a little to early to say what our organization feels,” And she finished up by saying, “As of now, I think we’re neutral on this issue.” Weber believes that the important part is how the transition is handled. She feels that opening up investing could be the “rise or ruin” of the state’s legal weed industry.
Weber explained further that the move isn’t explicitly bad for consumers and small businesses. She believes “this could improve cannabis in Colorado, and therefore, our cannabis consumers could benefit from lower prices and better quality-controlled cannabis.” She also noted a lack of research on the possible consequences of the legislation and urged further investigation.

Opening the state could cost more than expected.

One of the agencies most affected by the changes is the Marijuana Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue. The agency would need to get more funding for things like background checks and travel expenses. Since investigators have to check out anyone holding 5% or more of the shares in a cannabis company, allowing an unlimited number of moneyed interests to jump in could be overwhelming.
But the cost of investigating shadowy investors across the globe is inconsequential compared to the potential wealth HB1011 entices to Colorado. Mainly because the bill would make it a lot easier for a cannabis company to break into the major exchanges like the NASDAQ. But Wall Street is notorious for extracting wealth from industries, not for building roads or funding schools like current cannabis businesses do.
In the end, there will be winners and losers with most of the losers likely being the small businesses and public services. But there is potential benefits for consumers and businesses able to attract investors. Only time will tell if the Colorado legislature can see past the mountains of money to protect their constituents from foreign and domestic investors looking to make a profit above all else.

What do you think allowing foreign investors would to enter the marijuana market will do? Do you think Colorado should have made the switch years ago? Who do you think will be the winners and losers in this situation? Let us know in the comment section!

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CategoriesCulture, Guides, Medical by

Sold: Starting a Medical Grow Business

Before starting a medical grow business, you need to do a ton of research.

Federal, state and local laws create a vast web of interconnecting rules that are unique to each medical grow (even if they are in the same city and industry). Navigating this miasma is both arduous and tedious by design but is also vital to remaining in business. The best place to start is with your states official rules.
You can’t simply put some seeds in backyard dirt or throw thousands of dollars around and expect to get anything competitive out of it. And this is a competition. The time, effort and skill needed to get a plant from seed to sale is a skill that can be developed over several years. A skilled hand can take a good strain and make it great while an unskilled grower can kill everything.

But it takes more than growing the dankest buds to survive.

Growing great herb is a prerequisite to a business based around growing weed. But equally important is the ability to manage costs and duplicate results. It doesn’t matter how much you can sell your product for. If it costs more to produce than what you get, it isn’t a viable business.
“Even if you get your costs under control, you still have to worry about duplication. If you can’t produce the same product every time, you have a problem.” Mike Boynton, the master grower for Oregon Imperial farms told me in an interview. “Changing anything in the environment from fan placement to light duration will change how your plants grow and therefore your bottom line.” The more people and the bigger the farm, the harder it is to control costs. If you can’t get it under control with 5 plants, you will never be able to with 5000.

The Marijuana industry is an especially challenging one.

Getting a business off the ground in the weed industry is a lot harder than most other industries. Cannabis is one of the oldest crops known to man and you can bet there are a lot of talented people out there trying to do it better and cheaper than you. Besides having to deal with the standard problems of location and competition, cannabis businesses are heavily regulated and lack traditional support infrastructure like banking services.
Marijuana businesses lack the ability to use banking services because it remains federally illegal. This is not to say that banks refuse drug money. SBC was fined $1.9 billion by the U. S. government for laundering cartel drug money in 2012. Yet the cannabis industry is forced to work on a cash basis regardless of how big the costs.

There are a variety of rules regarding how to grow legally.

With over half of the nation having legal weed in one form or another on a state level, there have been many ideas about what should be allowed. Each state has taken different measures to ensure a safe and effective cannabis industry. Some states require seed to sale tracking and vertical integration while others prohibit delivery or drive-thu services.
In addition to rules and regulations about where and how to provide services, there are also rules around what kind of equipment is needed in order to get a license. This further compounds the complexity with many states have a different set of rules for medical grows and recreational operations. As an example, Washington merged their medical grow and recreational grow rules for a single comprehensive program while Oregon kept them separate.

After all, growing weed isn’t cheap.

Even in places with ideal growing conditions like Northern Cali, Florida or Hawaii, plants still need water, nutrients and protection from pests/diseases. In areas where the weather is too dry or cold, growing indoors becomes a necessity. The cost of equipment pales in comparison to the cost of keeping the growing environment perfect.
In addition to lights; pumps, timers, fans, filters and air conditioners all use electricity. Keeping the juice flowing can be a challenge in itself. Grows with more than one room may even need to have a more powerful line run by the electric company to keep from blowing transformers. All of these little additions add up quickly and can quickly eat up all the potential profit.

A lawyer, an accountant and a lobbyist walk into a grow room.

If you plan to operate a successful company growing a federally illegal substance, you need to have some specific talent on your team. This team needs at least a lawyer, an accountant and a lobbyist to run interference while the head grower does their work. Without someone covering each area, the chance of getting blindsided is astronomical.

Lawyer

Find someone who specializes in canna-based business compliance and criminal cannabis defense. Ask others in your area who they recommend. Don’t forget to check online databases like www.martindale.com, www.avvo.com, www.justice.org to name a few.

Accountant

Look for someone with experience in the industry. Overly “creative” accounting can get you in hot water so make sure you can trust them. In addition to searching online for local tax professionals, ask colleagues for referrals. Asking others in your area who they use and why is also a great way to narrow the search for the right accountant.

Lobbyist

Look for someone with the time and energy to represent your cause. Their job is to keep an eye on local and statewide changes that pertain to your business. They are also there to help prevent others in the community from effectively banning your business or engaging in sneaky tactics to close you down. There are no lists/registries for this, gotta tap into that network to find the right person..

Head Gardener

Look for someone with botany experience. Many master gardeners hang out in local hydro stores or are at least known by them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and be picky. This is the person who will dictate the initial and final quality of the product and choosing the wrong person can have dire consequences.

Skipping the support staff can have dire consequences.medical grow

Many states ban the operation of any marijuana based business (including a medical grow) within a certain radius of schools. But most states don’t ban schools from opening near a marijuana businesses. There is normally nothing explicitly stopping a preschool from opening next to a dispensary or grow location and putting you out of business.
A good team is the difference between closing up shop or staying open for years. It does you no good to spend millions of dollars on a medical grow business just to have a preschool open next door a week later and shut you down. Better to have the staff on hand to stay open and deal with the issue before it gets finalized than not.

You need to find just the right spot.

Besides schools randomly popping up, there is a lot to consider when starting a grow business. The first thing most growers work out is where they plan to grow. Most medical grows are done on a personal consumption scale. If the plan is to make it profitable, it takes a bit more consideration.
Because cannabis remains federally illegal, landlords are almost as hesitant as banks are to work with weed entrepreneurs. Even in the case of a medical grow, it can be almost impossible to get permission to start. In most cases, growers need to own the land/building they plan to operate in or receive written permission from the land owner before getting licensed.

Security is a major concern as well.

Each state has very specific rules on which types of security are needed for a medical grow to remain in compliance. States may require barriers like walls be erected around grow sites. They also might require closed circuit cameras linked to cloud backups but it depends.
Whole sectors of the economy have been dedicated to the outright eradication of cannabis for decades (I’m looking at you Big Prison, Pharma and Tobacco). As cannabis moves from illicit trade to regulated market, there is bound to be pushback from entrenched interests. Even a medical grow can face opposition from local religious or political groups that don’t like cannabis.

The market is growing.landrace 2

More and more people are getting in on the Green Rush and starting to grow cannabis. Like the Gold Rush that sparked westward expansion, the hype and obvious wealth being generated is causing a migration of talent and willpower. Fortunes are waiting to be made by talented and driven individuals willing to put in the work.
In the end, most of the states where weed has been legalized were ballot measures which means they were supported by voters. With the majority of the population clearly supporting cannabis reform, cannabis is primed to continue growing for years to come. Getting a good team will make every other part of the process easier.

Do you agree?

Or do you think I’m off my rocker? What advice would you give to someone just getting started? What do you wish you knew before starting a medical grow? Let us know in the comments down below. We would love to hear your take. And as always, thanks for reading.

cann history
CategoriesCulture, Marijuana Legalization, Marijuana News, Medical, Science by

A History of Medical Cannabis Part 2: Modern Cannabis

In Part 1 we talked about ancient cannabis and how it has been used throughout the ages.

Today we are going to talk about modern cannabis and how it moved from prominence as a medicine to a recreational drug. Yet medical cannabis is not relegated to the ancient past. Modern medicine uses the term marijuana instead of the ancient name: cannabis but it means the same thing.
The original name can be traced back to the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides. He was a roman army doctor from around 40-90AD who traveled widely on campaigns throughout the Roman empire. He wrote the medical text that virtually all others were based on for over a thousand years and had a special entry for both male and female cannabis plants. It wasn’t until the 1930’s when the plant became known a marijuana in an effort to re-brand it. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

By 1621, medical marijuana had made its way into the English Mental Health Book.

Cannabis was entered into one of the most popular medicinal textbooks from the era to treat depression. Because of the work of an Irish doctor working for a shipping company during the colonization of the new world, medical cannabis moved to the Americas.
Cannabis treatments were a staple of a professional doctors curriculum up through the industrial revolution.  Before Alaska and Hawaii were states, America had laws on the books that supported medical marijuana in all 48 states. Cannabis was not seen as a recreational drug, it was medicine with little risk of side effects.

But in 1936 all that changed.

Pressure was being placed on the U.S. by the international community to sign the International Treaty on Controlled Substances. While not directly listing cannabis as a controlled substance, the treaty forced all countries that signed to adopt similar drug policies. Propagandists later used the treaty to get cannabis banned across the developed world.
A very popular anti-marijuana campaign burned through the nation. Funded by the government and directed by the talented propagandist Larry Anslinger, “Reefer Madness” was a sensational tale about marijuana. It featured the plant ruining people’s lives through sex, insanity, and horrific acts of violence. Although Reefer Madness was a work of pure fiction,  it was accepted by a whole generation as fact with the tenacity of religious convictions. The influential power of the Reefer Madness propaganda laid the groundwork for Larry Anslinger to get cannabis banned.
Larry Anslinger was a potent propagandist that was able to convince the developed world to outright ban cannabis use, cultivation and distribution. He used a mixed media of propaganda to accomplish this. Anslinger was a master of using media and used the newspapers, radio and television to spread a web of half-truths and outright lies.
After spreading a racially motivated panic with the Reefer Madness propaganda, Anslinger convince the U.S. to pass the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Anslinger provided his political masters a new way to target their political opponents voting base. The politically motivated police force acted quickly on the new laws to target the poor.

The Marijuana Tax Stamp Act brought America Modern Cannabis.

On the day the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was enacted (Oct. 2, 1937) the FBI and Denver Colorado police raided the Lexington Hotel. They arrested a man named Samuel R. Caldwell for selling modern cannabis. He was a 58 year-old unemployed laborer. Three days later, on Oct. 5, 1937 Caldwell became the first person convicted under U.S. federal law of distributing cannabis.
In 1942, cannabis was removed from the U.S. Pharmacopeia. When that happened, cannabis lost the last vestiges of medical legitimacy. Because of the International Treaty on Controlled Substances, most of the other countries in the developed world were forced to enact similar rules.

Over the next decades, criminalization of cannabis continued.

As more and more regulations were heaped on medical practitioners, they became unable to prescribe cannabis. Legal penalties increased massively with the Boggs Act of 1951. It established minimum prison sentences for simple possession of cannabis. Thanks in great part to Anslinger’s work, cannabis was classified as a schedule 1 controlled substance in 1970.
Schedule 1 substances are substances no medical benefit and high risk of abuse. The controlled Substances Act of 1970 Classified Marijuana as a having “No Accepted Medical Use”. After the passing of the Substances Act, medical practitioners were barred from prescribing modern cannabis for any medication, effectively removing the oldest known medicine from a whole generation of healers across the globe.
In 1971, the Shafer Commission was created by the U.S. president to determine the merit of criminalizing cannabis. The Shafer Commission was bi-partisan and overseen by congress. President Nixon himself ordered it to determine “if the personal use of marijuana should be criminalized.” The commission came back with an answer and Nixon ignored it because he didn’t like that they believed there was no reason to scale up action against users.
In 1971 president Nixon chose to aggressively pursue action against cannabis consumers by declaring the War on Drugs. Motivated by personal prejudice political corruption, he saw marijuana as a way to get at his political opponents. He even admitted at the time that his reasons for attacking cannabis users and increasing penalties was motivated by personal directives.

Nixon acknowledged his action was not based on empirical evidence.

He increased criminalization despite the commission he put together telling him officially and unequivocally that cannabis use should not be criminalized. Over the next two years, the Nixon built a force specifically designed to scale up violence against modern cannabis users.
The Department of Drug Enforcement (DEA) was established in 1973 by merging the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNND) and the Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement (ODALE) into a single agency. It comes as no surprise that the DEA continues to aggressively pursue cannabis consumers, producers and distributors to this day. They use every tool at their disposal regardless of legality or constitutionality to continue the criminalization of marijuana.
Things continued to go downhill for cannabis in the coming years. It wasn’t until 1976 that Robert Randall (who was afflicted by glaucoma) used the Common Law Doctrine of Necessity (US v. Randall) to defend himself against criminal charges of marijuana cultivation. In 1976, federal Judge James Washington made waves with his ruling. Judge Washington ruled that Randall’s use of modern cannabis constituted a ‘medical necessity’ and the case was thrown out.
Modern cannabis 2

The next milestone for modern cannabis crusaders came in the winter of 1991.

Modern cannabis took a step forward with the passing of medical marijuana reform in California. The first medical marijuana initiative was called Proposition P and was in San Francisco. It passed with an overwhelming 79% of the vote in November of 1991.
Proposition P called on the State of California and the California Medical Association to restore hemp medical to the list of available medicines in California, and to stop penalizing physicians for prescribing hemp for medical purposes. It only effected San Francisco but the cogs of bureaucracy had been activated. It would take another 5 years for legislation to go statewide.
Voters in California passed the first statewide medical marijuana initiative on November 5, 1996. Known as Proposition 215, it permitted patients and their primary caregivers to possess and cultivate marijuana for the treatment of AIDS, cancer, muscle spasms, migraines, and several other disorders. It also protected doctors from state sponsored punishment if they recommended marijuana to their patients.

The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly.

In September of 1998, the House of Representatives debated a resolution called H.J.Res. 117. They passed H.J.Res 117 at the same time Oregon, Washington and Alaska provided their medical marijuana programs. In H.J.Res. 117, Congress declared support for the existing federal drug approval process.
They decide not to reschedule marijuana despite the overwhelming evidence coming forth that it should be decriminalized. While cannabis is classified as having no medical benefit, the United States Department of Health and Human Services) currently holds a patent on medical cannabis.
Patent No. 6630507 covers the use of cannabinoids for treating a wide range of diseases and was submitted to the patent office in 1999. The Department of Health and Human Services was awarded the patent in 2003. Yet the Department of Health is not the only regulatory agency that has chosen to abandon science, compassion and reason.
Modern Cannabis

In 2002, the FDA decided how to use modern cannabis in a study.

They decided that shipping 300 pre-rolled joints to patients in metal canisters was the best way to judge modern cannabis. The material was frequently two or more years old upon receipt by patients and a close inspection of the contents of NIDA-supplied cannabis cigarettes revealed them to be a crude mixture of leaf with abundant stem and seeds.
The study concluded that “cannabis smoking, even of a crude, low-grade product, provides effective symptomatic relief of pain, muscle spasms, and intraocular pressure elevations…” and that “clinical cannabis patients are able to reduce or eliminate other prescription medicines and their accompanying side effects.” The FDA report was ignored by those in power and cannabis remained a schedule 1 controlled substance despite the undeniable evidence.
The DEA has still not reclassified cannabis. It remains a holistic herb used throughout time as a medicine that current U.S. legislators are violently opposed to. While international progress has been made with the UK rescheduling cannabis to Class B and the Netherlands also making great strides in medicinal research, the U.S. still struggles to come into the light. Use of scientific reasoning is about to get even harder for the U.S. government as President Trump decides who will take the reigns of power. Yet his choice of Jim O’Neill to head the FDA (who openly supports cannabis legalization) gives modern cannabis hope for the future. Only time will tell. Thanks for reading.
Featured image: shutterstock

Thornton Has Had a Change of Mind in Regards to Retail Cannabis
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Thornton Has Had a Change of Mind in Regards to Retail Cannabis

When marijuana was legalized for retail/recreational purposes in the state of Colorado in 2012, cities and counties had the ability to restrict the retail market from existing within their borders. Many cities decided to do just that. Thornton, the state’s 6th largest city right out said no to all retail cannabis related businesses. 4 years later, though, they are starting to see what they are missing out on. A recent 5-4 vote by the Thornton City Council will change that moving forward. Starting Sept. 1st the city will start accepting applications from individuals who wish to open a dispensary in the city.
The change will allow for 4 retail marijuana dispensaries to open within the city limits, which is one in each quadrant. During the city council meeting where the vote took place, there were many opponents who did not like the idea of retail marijuana stores opening up shop in their cities. Many of these prohibitionists stated things such as it would “increase youth consumption.” I’m not sure where they are getting their information but since cannabis was legalized in the state, consumption by young adults and youth has decreased.
There are strict regulations surrounding where the dispensaries will be able to open specifically including but not limited to the following;
-At least 1,000 feet away from schools
-No less than 500 feet away from day care centers
-No less than 500 feet away from drug treatment centers
Applicants wishing to open a dispensary in the city will be graded on a point system much like potential applicants are vetted in Aurora.
The changes voted on by the council also pave the way to allow for marijuana testing facilities down the road. They will not, however, be allowing for cultivation facilities or infused-product makers.
Once sales begin the city stands to make some big bucks that will go to benefit the city as well as the communities of residents that live there. Estimates show that the city could stand to make anywhere between $1.5 million and $2.5 million annually from the taxes they will collect on retail marijuana sales. Can you imagine what $1.5 million could do for a city? This is the exact question that got the gears in the minds of many of the city council members turning in the direction of supporting retail sales in the city. While it may sound sad that money was the driving factor, just think about how much the city will gain from this decision!
image: Ed Andrieski, The Associated Press

Court Rules In Favor Of The Motorist Pulled Over In Kansas With CO Tags
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Court Rules in Favor of the Motorist Pulled Over in Kansas with CO Tags

In December of 2011, a gentleman by the name of Peter Vasquez was pulled over on a Kansas highway while traveling alone at night, away from his home state of Colorado. He was pulled over and his car was searched based on the justification that he was traveling from a state that was known for being a “drug source” simply because marijuana is legal in Colorado. The search yielded absolutely no illegal substances and he was let go. The situation did not end there, though. Just recently the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled that the two Highway Patrol officers from Kansas that pulled Peter over, had indeed violated his constitutional rights. This ruling changes the law and it now states that officers are no longer able to pull over motorists in the state of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah on the basis of their license plate originating from a legal cannabis state.
This violation of Peter’s constitutional rights is obvious and it is great to see that the court agreed. The situation that occurred with Peter luckily brought into light how police feel they can utilize their badge to do as they wish. When police officers go through training and are hired to a squad, they take an oath to protect and serve the members of their community. Pulling over a motorist on a highway such as Peter Vasquez simply because his license plates were from a state that allows its residents to have legal access to a safe natural medication and safer recreational choice than alcohol, is not protecting and serving. It is in the basic form nothing other than harassment.
The case of Peter Vasquez is not just an isolated incident either. There have been numerous reports of motorists from CO being detained and their cars being searched based only on the premises that they had CO license plates. Take for example 70-year-old Darien Roseen. Darien owns a home in CO and in Washington State. While traveling through Idaho going between his homes, Darien started being tailed by Idaho State Trooper Justin Klitch. Mr. Roseen started to feel uncomfortable as the Trooper continued following him, so he decided to pull into a rest area. This is when Trooper Klitch detained Darien.
His reasoning was that Roseen had failed to use a signal and had tapped the curb when pulling into the parking spot at the rest area. The real reason though was quickly apparent after the officer immediately accused him of “having something in his vehicle that he should not have,” simply because he had CO plates and was a licensed medical marijuana card holder. This is when Roseen consented to a search and was detained in the back of a cruiser and taken to the local sheriff’s dept while another officer drove his car to the station and the car was searched entirely. The search of course returned absolutely no marijuana and he was later let go without another mention of the traffic infractions he had originally been detained for.
Hopefully as time progresses this type of harassment will naturally go away as more states choose to follow in the footsteps of Colorado and legalize responsible adult use of cannabis.
image: wikimedia

Responsible Use Denver Submits Signatures to Put Initiative on Novembers Ballot
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Responsible Use Denver Submits Signatures to Put Initiative on November's Ballot

You can go into just about any town in America and locate a bar. Every day around 5 o’clock you can watch as people flock to these taverns to go in and enjoy a few cocktails to unwind from their day. You can also open up the news almost every day and find a story about how a drunk driver caused an accident which ended up taking the life of an innocent person. In states such as Colorado, Washington, and Oregon where cannabis consumers can purchase marijuana you will not find cannabis clubs where people can partake in a toke from a joint with friends to unwind from their day and that is a sad fact.
Science has shown that alcohol is significantly more dangerous than cannabis and it has also proven that alcohol drastically impairs your ability to drive whereas cannabis has little to no effect on an individual’s driving capabilities. One group in Denver Colorado is looking to change this and recently submitted over 8,000 signatures to be approved in hopes of putting their initiative on this November’s ballot.
Responsible Use Denver had the language of their initiative approved earlier this year and the team of 20 activists have been tirelessly working to obtain enough qualifying signatures to allow the residents in the city to vote on their initiative this fall. The initiative introduced by Responsible Use Denver aims to legalize the inception of private cannabis clubs where adults over the age of 21 can become a member and have a place to socialize with like-minded people while enjoying a toke.
The initiative put forth by Responsible Use Denver would allow for individuals over the age of 21 to apply for licensing to open a Private Cannabis Club. The stipulations include but are not limited to the following;

  • Applicants must be over the age of 21.
  • Private Cannabis Clubs can’t exist on the same premises as a bar or restaurant.
  • Private Cannabis Clubs can only be accessed by members that are 21 years of age or older.
  • Private Cannabis Clubs will not sell, distribute, or manufacture cannabis or marijuana-based products on their premises.
  • All consumption must take place in an enclosed area that is ventilated separately from any other existing areas.
  • Premises must be clearly marked with signage that notes the area can only be accessed by adults over the age of 21 and that the business is a Private Cannabis Club where cannabis may be consumed.

image credit: facebook.com/responsibleusedenver