Hickenlooper Signs First Bills In History To Establish A Legal, Regulated Pot Market

[kentuck]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/hickenlooper-signs-colora_n_3346798.html

<snip>
On Tuesday, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed several historic measures to implement marijuana legalization in the state, establishing Colorado as the world's first legal, regulated and taxed marijuana market for adults.

<snip>
Tvertd added: "Colorado is demonstrating to the rest of the nation that it is possible to adopt a marijuana policy that reflects the public's increasing support for making marijuana legal for adults. Marijuana prohibition is on its way out in Colorado, and it is only a matter of time before many more states follow its lead."

<snip>
Colorado adults, 21 and over, will be limited to purchasing up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use from specialty licensed retail shops that can also sell pot-related items such as pipes and accessories. Coloradans can also grow up to six plants -- with only three flowering at a given time -- in their home for personal use. Adults can possess up to an ounce of marijuana legally.

HB-1317 and SB-283 requires that retailers properly label all marijuana products including warning labels, serving size and information on THC potency. Only Colorado residents can own or invest in the stores, KDVR reports, and when the first stores open around Jan. 1, 2014, for the first nine months, only existing medical marijuana dispensaries will be able apply for the recreational sales license.

.....more

[arely staircase]

1. can non residents purchase?

eom

[kentuck]

2. I don't know..

But I think you have to be a resident of Colorado?

[Logical]

5. Nope! n-t

[Logical]

4. Yes, 1/4 of a ounce at a time. n-t

[kentuck]

7. Thanks logical!

I heard the report on the news earlier today but I was not paying a whole lot of attention...

[Buddyblazon]

41. 1/4 ounce...

at an individual retail store on a single day. They can go to other stores on the same day and but 1/4 at each different one.

The idea is to keep out of state people from buying a bunch and selling it (shipping it via mail).

[Logical]

42. Ok, thanks for the information. n-t

[jtuck004]

53. I wonder how many exits there are along, what is it, I-25? n/t

[djean111]

3. So - the feds will swoop down on the entire state?

Will state law enforcement help the feds? Are they required to, or is it a choice?
Does local law enforcement help the feds in California?

[Logical]

6. My bet is that Obama will continue to crack down on legal pot in Colorado! n-t

[kentuck]

8. The marijuana lobby and voters are pretty strong in Colorado...

They are like the NRA used to be. Politicians are afraid to vote against them for fear of losing their seats...

[Logical]

9. But I don't think the Feds care. They will start busting legal sellers immediately. n-t

[kentuck]

10. I should hope not!

The people voted. I don't think this would be an issue the Feds would want to involve themselves with in Colorado.

[Logical]

12. They are busting legal medical marijuana stores in California. No difference. See.....

Feds Escalate Crackdown on Medical Marijuana in California
May 9, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO -- Several dozen protesters gathered in downtown Berkeley Wednesday afternoon to fight federal action against one of California's oldest medical marijuana dispensaries, targeted for closure by the Justice Department.

http://reason.com/24-7/2013/05/09/feds-escalate-crackdown-on-medical-marij

[FrodosPet]

28. Isn't Reason.com a Libertarian site?

They may be right on this particular story, but on their logo, they are promoting free markets. I thought we aren't supposed to use RW talking point sources like The Daily Mail, the Telegraph, WND.com, etc.

[jtuck004]

46. Some enjoy a good book-burning. If the source is factual, there should be no

problem. Just watch out for signs of torches...

[sabrina 1]

48. Do you think the DUers are not grown up enough to decide what to read and what to reject for

themselves, that they need nannies to choose their reading material for them? I don't see any list on DU, thankfully or I would not be a member here, of forbidden books or any other literature.

We have a few people here who would like to choose our reading material for us. But they are very much in the minority. No doubt you have come across a few of them and for some reason have confused their desire to censor the reading material of DUers for 'rules'. I can assure you that the day a Democratic site censors the reading material of their members, they will become a very small site.

You can relax. We are not right wingers here, most DUers are intelligent enough to recognize fact from fiction. Seems you yourself believe YOU are capable of discerning what is fact and what is not. Why do you feel you can do so and the rest of us need to have our reading material monitored for us?

[FrodosPet]

55. I was zinging the censors. I just don't want to keep using the sarcasm smilie.

I agree that people should receive input from a variety of sources. In fact, it is often just as important to read contrary views as it is agreeable ones. But there are several people here who will slam you if you post from a site that has any signs of RW or libertarian bias, even if the information is factual and confirmed by other acceptable sources.

[uncle ray]

31. oh, but there IS a difference.

Colorado's US Attorneys are not pursuing the federal law here the same as California's US Attorneys.

[Logical]

37. I hope their bosses agree to leave them alone. n-t

[Buddyblazon]

44. It's written into our state constitution for one..

second...Californians decided that their dispensaries should be non-profit and not pay taxes.....

and then the dispensary owner suddenly started making huge "bonuses". In Colorado it's for profit but everybody pays taxes. And looky looky...not a whole lot has happened here to licensed dispensaries here.

These are the main reasons why we don't see busts here.

No one ever wants to tell the whole story. They just want a reason to be pissed at Obama.

[sabrina 1]

49. What difference does it make what a state decides to do? Good for Colorado for tying taxes and

income to the issue, no doubt it will help the state. But I see nothing wrong with Ca deciding not to do so if that is what the people wanted. The Feds time would be better spent going after Wall St. criminals than interfering in what the people of any particular state decide to do regarding horrendously bad and harmful laws.

Anyone opposing the legalization of MJ is on the wrong side of history. It will not be long before other states follow Colorado, Ca and Washington. The harm prohibition has done to this country is incalculable and it's way past time to end it. If a politician doesn't want people to be pissed at them then all they have to do is support the people's wishes.

And why is it that whenever someone points out facts a few people here automatically assume, falsely, they are 'looking for a reason to be pissed at Obama'?? Seems to me they don't have to look for something that is already a reality. Are the Feds cracking down on Ca clinics or not? I don't think anyone is lying about that, or that it is a secret they had to go 'looking for'.

US politicians are not the center of everyone's universe, either for or against. Some issues are far more important than any politician. Maybe just focus on the issue and this country might begin to get somewhere rather than both sides trying to protect their 'team'. It isn't about teams. It's about bad laws that have destroyed lives and are still doing so.

[kentuck]

51. Amen to that Sabrina.

Well stated.

[customerserviceguy]

52. You are the voice of reason

I sure hope the President thinks at least mostly the way you do on this.

[Buddyblazon]

56. Not tying taxes

and income to the issue is what is bringing on all the busts in CA. It's a non profit system. But many owners are making massive "bonuses" and the Feds have identified the non-profit set ups as bullshit. Many owners are using it as a means to game the IRS.

Sure they can do what they want. But gaming the IRS is what is continually bringing the wrath of the Feds on their heads.

And the fact that Colorado is out in the open and fairly paying their taxes is why we're being left alone.

I don't understand how we as democrats can complain about corporations not paying taxes but act as if its okay for people that are trying to make cannabis legitimate.

[sabrina 1]

57. So what??? What has that got to do with the Feds wasting OUR tax dollars on something

the people already decided? Ca spoke, and if you don't like it, and if you don't live there, too bad. But our system is based on the people's choices through the electoral system and I don't know how any Democrat can support the Fed Govt ignoring the people's voices regardless of whether you personally don't like their choice.

You are veering off into the far left field here. The issue is that the people in Ca and in Colorado have spoken. And the Feds need to leave them alone. They seem to have way too much time on their hands since they are not doing what they ought to be doing, GOING AFTER CRIMINALS, War Criminals, Wall St. Criminals, who have caused so much harm to this entire country.

Stick to the issue, it isn't about who pays taxes and who doesn't, it is about people voting for something and respecting that. Ca will no doubt see the value of handling MJ the same way they handle liquor and cigarattes, but THAT IS UP TO THEM, NOT the Feds.

[Buddyblazon]

59. So what?

Last edited Thu May 30, 2013, 03:17 AM - Edit history (1)

So what? So what that shysters in the California industry are fucking it up for the movement by essentially stealing money by not paying taxes.

There are a great many of us who are spending ungodly amounts of our own money to be as legitimate as possible so that the opponents of legalization can't point at us and hold us up as the reason prohibition should continue. We're literally the people on the front line. Not keyboard warriors who know little to nothing about why we oppose shady dispensary owners in CA.

What did you think a legitimate legal system would look like? Did you think they wouldn't impose regulations and fees and taxes? THIS is what a legitimate system looks like here in CO. There is no way they were going to let store fronts open and not do any of those things. You want prohibition gone? This is what it looks like.

If you don't pay your taxes on your business, expect the authorities to come for you...whether you make widgets or grow fine cannabis regardless of the way the population voted.

Where your going awry is thinking that these dispensaries are being busted for growing and selling cannabis.

[sabrina 1]

60. And what does any of that have to do with the Feds interference in what the states decide?

I am not disagreeing with you on the issues you raised. That is a totally separate thing. I am asking what any of it has to do with the Feds? And what makes you think they won't be interfering in Colorado? Do you think they care about taxes or no taxes? The War on Drugs is PROFITABLE. That's what it's all about, it's not about any of the things you have stated.

The only way to stop the Feds from going after states that have legalized MJ is for every state to do it. They can't go after everyone.

Don't be surprised when you hear of the first raid on a legal operation who are paying their taxes. This 'war' is no about drugs, it's about colossal amounts of money and power and slush funds etc.

I hope other states legalize MJ, all of them, to end this draconian phony failure of a 'war' that has ruined so many innocent lives.

[Buddyblazon]

43. No they won't.

Do your research before commenting on this.

I can tell you we've spent thousands of dollars researching, talking with our cannabis lawyer, putting together business plan, etc.

They haven't been busting dispensaries here (and letters from the Feds telling dispensaries to move because they're within a 1000' of a school or childcare center doesn't count because most of those dispensaries just moved and haven't been bothered since).

I promise if you do the research, you'll discover quickly why California is having a problem with the Feds and we are not. It's not hard to find.

[Logical]

47. Well, that is great news. I guess I just need the justice department to make their ruling. n-t

[bahrbearian]

15. Wrong again,

[Logical]

18. Your evidence is what? Nothing I assume! n-t

[bluedigger]

35. He will have to do it in the Federal Courts.

Local police and DA's will have little to pursue at the consumer level, other than the occasional vehicle charge. If the Administration wants to devote Federal resources to a large and somewhat sparsely populated state like Colorado they can, but they will be hard stretched to undo what the citizens want.

[Logical]

36. I hope you are right. The Feds on this topic worry me. n-t

[burnodo]

17. That or denial of federal funding

just like Clinton did

[tritsofme]

21. That would require an act of Congress

and the strange bedfellows around the politics of this issue could make such a bill difficult to pass.

[Mr.Bill]

25. I live in a small county in Northern California.

The Feds have thrown so much money at our Sheriff's dept in the last decade, they are now dependent on it. They have sworn in some of our Deputies as DEA agents, but won't say who. The grapevine says one of them will run for Sheriff. They bust a large grow here almost daily, usually Mexican nationals growing on government land. They usually run off or are not present when the bust happens, and few arrests are really made. The Feds sent letters to the owners/landlords of all the dispensaries in the state that if they don't close up shop they will confiscate their property. They all closed around here. California Supreme court ruled municipalities can ban dispensaries, and many are doing so. The market is basically back underground and the only difference is now they will pretty much overlook a sick person with five or ten plants on their property, although many local governments demand all growing be done indoors, which I would do anyway because of thieves.

It's a real mess here, I hope it goes better in Colorado. Bottom line is, marijuana has not been legalized. It is still very much illegal in all fifty states according to federal law.

Some friends went camping a few weeks ago, a park ranger came to their campsite (they were smoking pot). He asked who had a medical marijuana card. One guy proudly displayed his. Whoops, the were in a National Park, federal property, even though they were in California. He had far less than an ounce and he is being charged with a Federal Felony.

[felix_numinous]

11. Watch state revenue

skyrocket. It's about time

[Mr. David]

13. One of the regulations that will be challenged is the legal limit of "stoned driving"

no such thing.

5 ng/ml is the limit, and MMJ patients often exceed that.

Also, the voters will turn down a 25% tax increase even it's to fund education. It's already taxed high enough as it is.

[Nye Bevan]

14. I like this guy. He also stopped an execution last week. (nt)

[KoKo]

16. That's Nice..but, did you see he overturned Fracking Decision in Colorado?

Published on Sunday, May 26, 2013 by DeSmogBlog
Gas Industry Successfully Overturns Colorado Fracking Ban
by Farron Cousins

The townspeople in Fort Collins were greeted with some unfortunate news earlier this week, as their city council decided to overturn a ban on hydraulic fracturing that had been in place for only a few short months. The decision to overturn the ban was based solely on the threat of a lawsuit from the oil and gas industry.

The mere threat of a lawsuit from the only fracking company in town – Prospect Energy – was enough to send the city council cowering in submission, placing the entire town at risk of the negative health impacts associated with fracking.

The gas industry was aided in their efforts by Colorado’s Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper, who warned the town of Fort Collins that if the ban were to remain in place, they could face legal intervention from the state itself.

Hickenlooper’s announcement is less than surprising. He has received more than $45,000 from the energy industry during his campaigns, along with another $104,000 from the real estate industry (a sector that stands to gain a lot with the leasing of property to fracking.)

Much More at:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/26-2

[redqueen]

34. Greedy jerk. nt

[RainDog]

19. History in the making...

got to start somewhere and somehow.

[ancianita]

20. Dear Coloradoans, could you all please send him and your legislators over here to Illinois?

[Mr. David]

22. You can have him, for free

Let me warn you - he's pro-fracking big time.

[ancianita]

23. Thanks for the heads up. We just want them for the marijuana laws, then we'll send them right back.

[skydive forever]

24. What about drug testing for a job

Doesn't matter if its legal if you can't get a job smoking a "legal" product.

[xtraxritical]

26. I'll still grow my own, to heck with corporate control.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

27. So, if I buy some in Denver, where on my drive home to Chicago am I most likely to get busted?

[yonder]

29. Idaho

[Gidney N Cloyd]

30. If I drive from Denver to Chicago via Idaho I deserve to get busted for something.

[ReRe]

40. .

[yonder]

64. Okay, Kansas..

.. if not smoking. otherwise...

[DiverDave]

38. As soon as you cross the state line.

And dont drive a colorado plate through kansas.


http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/03/marijuana_profiling_colorado_kansas.php

[Gidney N Cloyd]

50. Good link! Thanks!

[Comrade Grumpy]

58. I see frequent reports of busts on I-80 through Nebraska.

Fewer in Iowa and Illinois. But at least you won't have West Coast plates.

Once you're on I-80 in Nebraska, you're just on your way back from visiting relatives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. That's your story, and your're sticking to it.

[kaiden]

32. We in Colorado are smokin'!

No, seriously!

[redqueen]

33. *starts looking for a job in CO*

[DiverDave]

39. I'm leaving in the next week or 2

going to Pueblo...

[kentuck]

45. Where it may eventually end up?

And we have no guarantee from Eric Holder that he will uphold the citizen will of Colorado?

In the end, we may see the Feds attempt to change the law that the people voted for. They would simply say that Federal law supersedes State law. The Citizens of the State of Colorado would then take the case before the US Supreme Court to argue that the citizens of Colorado have as much right to vote marihuana legal with restrictions as do the citizens of any other state have the right to vote alcohol legal...?

[flamingdem]

54. duuuude

what is this thread about again?

[kentuck]

61. One thing to keep in mind...

The infrastructure is already in place with the existing MMJ shops. They are everywhere. In order for them to sell recreational marihuana, their license will only cost an additional $500. If you are new to the business and want to sell recreational pot, then your license will cost $5000. This should permit the state to regulate in an orderly way.

I can see Colorado becoming like the "Vegas" destination for the pot smokers of America. The tax revenues will be addictive to the state government.

[callous taoboy]

62. Must visit my nieces in Boulder this summer!

[The River]

63. Check Craigslist in Denver

search the term "MMJ". It's like ordering a pizza...30 minutes or less to your door.