staging.rockymountainvoice.com

Menu

Tag: Marijuana

Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more
No Comments
State, The Colorado Sun

Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun “Unexpectedly high customer interest” led Xcel to pull the plug on a program helping businesses green their operations — for now. After shooting through most of its energy efficiency budget for this year, Xcel Energy has suspended all its programs for businesses and asked state regulators for an additional $34 million above the $93.6 million already agreed on. In a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary — Public Service Company of Colorado — said that there was “unexpectedly high customer interest and participation in the company’s electric energy efficiency offerings this year.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
Read More
Marijuana user cannot be banned from gun ownership, U.S. court rules
No Comments
denvergazette.com, State

Marijuana user cannot be banned from gun ownership, U.S. court rules

By Nate Raymond | Denver Gazette A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a pot-smoking gun owner in Texas cannot be prosecuted for violating a federal ban on users of illegal drugs owning firearms, saying it is unconstitutional to disarm her based on her past drug habits. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the prosecution had violated Paola Connelly's right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment citing a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. "Marijuana user or not, Paola is a member of our political community and thus has a presumptive right to bear arms," U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, wrote for a three-judge panel. READ THE FU...
Read More
Colorado Springs City Council sends sales ban of recreational marijuana to voters
No Comments
coloradopolitics.com, Local

Colorado Springs City Council sends sales ban of recreational marijuana to voters

By Mary Shinn | Colorado Politics, via Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado Springs residents could see competing recreational marijuana ballot questions in November.  The Colorado Springs City Council voted 8 to 1 to send a question to the ballot that would ban recreational marijuana stores in the city's charter. A charter amendment would trump a city ordinance.  The vote followed extensive public testimony that touched on the potential harms of marijuana, the benefits of expanding sales in town and letting voters decide how to regulate marijuana.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
Read More
A call to ban the sale of high-potency THC products in Boulder, amid rising teen mental health concerns
No Comments
Boulder Reporting Lab, Local

A call to ban the sale of high-potency THC products in Boulder, amid rising teen mental health concerns

By Tim Drugan | Boulder Reporting Lab Avani Dilger, a licensed counselor specializing in addiction, has worked with young people in Boulder County for decades. She runs a private practice and Natural Highs, a nonprofit she founded to help teens choose alternatives to drugs and alcohol. Recently, she noticed a change in how local young people are affected by THC products as the potency of those products has risen.    Dilger has observed more Boulder teens developing dependencies on THC products, complete with withdrawal symptoms that manifest as mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. “We have never seen anything like this with people who use marijuana,” Dilger said. “I have worked for over 20 years with people who have used marijuana and who have g...
Read More
Marijuana sales have plunged in Colorado and it is making other states nervous for future
No Comments
Politico, State

Marijuana sales have plunged in Colorado and it is making other states nervous for future

By MONA ZHANG | Politico On Jan. 1, 2014, Iraq War veteran Sean Azzariti made headlines worldwide as the first person in the U.S. to buy legal weed. More than 10 years later, 3D Cannabis, the dispensary in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood where the historic purchase was made, displays a makeshift sign announcing it is “temporarily closed.” The windows and doors on the side of the building have been boarded up. Plastic bags, discarded coffee cups and other trash collect in the corners of the abandoned parking lot. The dismal state of the historic site is a fitting symbol of the plight of Colorado’s cannabis market. What once was a success story has now left a trail of failed businesses and cash-strapped entrepreneurs in its wake. Regulatory burdens, an oversaturated market...
Read More
Study finds even one joint per week enough to boost heart disease risk
No Comments
The Epoch Times

Study finds even one joint per week enough to boost heart disease risk

By George Citroner | The Epoch Times Lighting up a joint once or more a week? That puff of marijuana could be seriously hurting your heart. A new study finds that even relatively infrequent cannabis use is linked to higher risks of having a heart attack or stroke—and the more you smoke, the more danger you’re in. The large-scale research presents some of the most damning evidence yet about marijuana’s impact on cardiovascular health. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EPOCH TIMES
Read More
VP Harris to talk marijuana reform in roundtable with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Governor
No Comments
National, THE HILL

VP Harris to talk marijuana reform in roundtable with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Governor

By BRETT SAMUELS | The Hill Vice President Harris will convene a roundtable on marijuana reform Friday with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and individuals who received pardons for marijuana convictions. A White House official said Harris will highlight actions the Biden administration has taken to pursue criminal justice reforms, including by pardoning tens of thousands of Americans with federal marijuana possession charges. Harris is also expected to discuss other actions taken on criminal justice reform, including an executive order President Biden signed in 2022 that banned federal officers from using chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized and limited the circumstances under which federal law enforcement can use no-knock warrants. READ THE FU...
Read More
Report: ‘People think this is the marijuana they used in college. It is not.’
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Report: ‘People think this is the marijuana they used in college. It is not.’

One Chance to Grow Up details dangers of today’s marijuana on children By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice COLORADO SPRINGS – When marijuana was legalized in Colorado more than a decade ago, it became apparent action would be needed to protect youth and One Chance to Grow Up was formed, co-founder Doug Robinson told a group of business leaders here last week. “Colorado was the first state to legalize it,” he said. “We decided we had to do something about it. We had to focus on protecting kids.” The citizen-led and funded non-profit was formed and, in the 11 years since marijuana was legalized, has impacted 37 pieces of legislation aimed at improving outcomes for children. In the early years of the campaign, focus was toward child-resistant packaging, labeling and warn...
Read More