Retired Supreme Court Justice Stevens: Asked Should Feds Legalize Marijuana

Retired Justice John Paul Stevens made some news in an interview with NPR's Scott Simon on Thursday 4/24/14. Scott asked him if the federal government should legalize marijuana.

"Yes," Stevens replied. "I really think that that's another instance of public opinion [that's] changed. And recognize that the distinction between marijuana and alcoholic beverages is really not much of a distinction. Alcohol, the prohibition against selling and dispensing alcoholic beverages has I think been generally, there's a general consensus that it was not worth the cost. And I think really in time that will be the general consensus with respect to this particular drug."

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Statement from Michael Elliott, Executive Director of the Marijuana Industry Group

Statement from Michael Elliott, Executive Director of the Marijuana Industry Group, in response to Governor Chris Christie's statements about Colorado's marijuana program.  

"Colorado now has about 500 pages of state marijuana law and regulation. Our program includes:

• State and local licensing;
• Background checks;
• Financial disclosures;
• Security requirements such as mandatory video surveillance, alarm systems, and limited access areas;
• Consumer safety requirements such as child-resistant packaging, detailed labeling with warnings, and testing for potency and harmful contaminants like mold and mildew;
• Seed-to-sale tracking with mandatory RFID tags; and      
• A local option for cities and counties to prohibit licensed marijuana businesses. 

The United States has fought the war on marijuana for 45 years, and spent over a trillion dollars.  And even though the United States now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, marijuana is still universally available, particularly in our schools. 

While the vast majority of Americans agree that the war on marijuana has been a failure, credible alternatives have been lacking.  Colorado is now showing the rest of the country an alternative that promotes freedom, revenue, and safety.   

Coloradans are choosing control over chaos.  We are choosing a model that includes accountability, transparency, security, taxes, jobs, and safety.  We reject the model of alcohol prohibition, where criminals like Al Capone dominate the market through violence, corruption, and fear. 

Indeed, Coloradans overwhelmingly support this program. We are proud of the robust regulatory structure Colorado has developed, and as representatives of this new industry, we pledge to continue working to enhance safety, transparency, and accountability."

Colorado policymakers fire back at Gov. Christie over pot comments

Few people still take New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seriously as a presidential contender, which may explain the governor’s comments Monday derisively referring to this critical swing state as a land of “head shops popping up on every corner.”

During a radio appearance Monday, Christie responded emphatically to a caller who asked about legalizing marijuana.

“You say it’s going to come down the road,” he said, interrupting the caller. “You know it may come down the road when I’m gone. It’s not going to come while I’m here.”

Christie, a Republican thought to be considered the GOP’s 2016 front-runner until he got bogged down in a scandal late last year, showed little grasp of an obvious reality: that voters here and in Washington state — not governors — are the ones who had the power to legalize recreational marijuana

Read full article @ FOX 31 Denver

To Keep Business Growing, Owners Rebrand Pot's Stoner Image

From the outside, Jan Cole's recreational marijuana store The Farm in Boulder, Colo., just feels welcoming. Big glass windows let in natural light, and the walls are painted in soothing earth tones. Cole used her background in spa management to build a "warm and inviting" pot shop that puts customers at ease.

In fact, the store's name, The Farm, is so inconspicuous, "we have a lot of people who come in think that we might be an organic food grocer or something," she says.

And that's exactly who Cole is trying to attract: the tote-bag carrying, socially conscious, natural-food crowd. She advertises her cannabis as pesticide-free, organic and, of course, locally grown.

"I don't think we'll ever be as big as Whole Foods, but Whole Foods is a good example of the type of clientele that we attract," she says.

This all reflects Cole's attempt to break away from the pack. With recreational marijuana use now legal in Colorado, marijuana businesses are finding themselves competing for customers in tight marketplaces.

About 200 recreational marijuana stores have opened in Colorado since Jan. 1. And as the market becomes more and more saturated, everyone is looking for an edge.


Reaching Beyond 'First Adopters'

Jennifer DeFalco is creative director for Cannabrand, a marketing agency named for a mashup of "cannabis" and "branding." DeFalco and her business partner are banking on Colorado's marijuana industry becoming big business — one in need of flashy logos, memorable catchphrases and eye-catching ads.

"Cannabis is here to stay. It's not going anywhere. The industry is just beginning," she says. Because it's so new, DeFalco says that most people who have already popped into a recreational pot shop are the first adopters — people who have tried marijuana before. But the whole point of marketing is to grow a business by reaching people who are on the fence about trying marijuana.

"So part of the rebranding of cannabis is really just making the dispensaries more inviting and more welcoming," she says.

But when it comes to advertising, it's not as simple as buying ads on the TV or radio. State rules in Colorado forbid shops from advertising on media where more than 30 percent of the intended audience is younger than 21. That kind of audience data is not readily available. If challenged, it could be tough for marijuana businesses to prove kids aren't seeing a particular ad.

"One thing that is interesting and important for the industry is this question of exposure to kids," says Margaret Campbell, a marketing professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. To reach new markets, she says, the industry as a whole needs to strip away the marijuana user stigma.

"[Businesses are] going to try to go beyond their core quote-unquote 'stoner user' to expand and have it be acceptable at cocktail parties," she says.


Losing The Stoner Stigma 

At a recent cocktail party at a gallery in Denver's arts district, Amy Dannemiller is trying to do just that: build a new business around removing the stoner stereotype.

Each month, Dannemiller, who uses the alter ego Jane West when planning pot gatherings, throws upscale parties where attendees bring their own marijuana and pay a $95 charge for fancy hors d'oeuvres and an open bar.

"It's just basically a big social event where everyone can enjoy cannabis like they would a glass of wine," she says.

But even the party's attendees say that, culturally and legally, marijuana isn't yet the same as a glass of wine — employers can still drug-test workers. One woman at the party, for example, declines to give her name, saying her job could be at stake.

"That's the hurdle. People can't be associated with it," she says. "Everyone does it, but they can't tell anyone about it."

That's a tricky legal hurdle that'll take a lot more than advertising and branding to overcome.

MMJ "edibles" vending machine on display in Avon, CO

"AVON – Stephen Shearin believes his company is evolving the marijuana industry by creating a vending machine for pot and pot products.

"It's extremely cool this is the first one," Shearin said.

Shearin is the chief operating officer for Tranzbyte, a company that owns American Green. American Green is the manufacturer of a vending machine called the ZaZZZ, which starts by verifying a person's age through their driver's license.

"They would swipe their driver's license at which point multiple cameras would allow us to use some advanced biometrics to make absolutely certain that the person who swiped the card is the owner of that card," Shearin said.

The ZaZZZ machine could contain marijuana, pot edibles, and other pot-related products. But, it will not be located in the open public.

"These are designed at this point legally to go inside dispensaries," Shearin said.

He compares the machines to automated express checkouts at the grocery store. He says the point of vending machine is help business move fasters inside marijuana dispensaries.

Greg Honan is the owner of Herbal Elements, a dispensary in Eagle-Vail. His store will be the first to house the ZaZZZ vending machine. Honan says the pot vending machine actually makes his product more secure."

Read full article @ 9news Denver

"With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado, entrepreneurs are finding new ways to market the multitude of products being developed. One big marketing tool is a marijuana vending machine."

Dispensary's Relieved As Feds Allow Banking But Local Bankers May Not Let It Happen

The marijuana industry breathed a sigh of relief after federal banking regulators issued long-awaited permission for them to access basic banking services. But Colorado’s pot pioneers said more needs to be done to bring the industry full legitimacy.

The U.S. Justice and Treasury departments issued guidance Friday intended to increase the availability of financial services for legal marijuana businesses that are licensed and regulated, while preserving the government’s enforcement power.

It was welcome news for marijuana businesses that have lost bank accounts and struggled to pay employees and taxes in cash.

“It’s made it very difficult to pay our bills, to pay our employees, to pay our taxes, to do anything,” said Caitlin McGuire, owner of Breckenridge Cannabis Club, a recreational marijuana shop.

But the banks may not go along with it.

“I’m flabbergasted that anybody who knows anything about banking could read that and understand that it encourages banking with marijuana businesses,” Don Childears with the Colorado Bankers Association told CBS4’s Rick Sallinger.

Childears said there are still many problems with banking with marijuana shops.

“We need to make sure that marijuana is never used on federal property, as an example. Or never results in someone driving while drugged. There’s no way you can do that. That’s an impossibility to me.”

At Seattle’s Conscious Care Cooperative, a medical marijuana dispensary with three branches and 11,000 members, business consultant Trek Hollnagel said the guidance “definitely looks exciting.”

He said the dispensary was always up front with banks about its line of business, and some, including Bank of America Corp., would let it open accounts – only to freeze or close them later on.

“From one day to the next, they changed their policies,” Hollnagel said. “If all your funds are frozen for two weeks, it makes it difficult to run a business. You write a rent check on a Monday, get a call from the bank Tuesday saying the account’s frozen, then a call from your landlord on Wednesday saying the check bounced.”

Still, business owners and industry advocates say the memo is just a beginning. They are hoping Congress will act to give them more certainty and expand access to things like insurance, loans and the federal courts.

“Banking is the first step. It’s a big first step. But it’s a first step,” said Dan Anglin, a lobbyist for EdiPure Brands, a Denver-based maker of edible marijuana with licensing agreements in four states.

“If we enter in an agreement with another entity and they violate that agreement, what is our recourse? A federal court isn’t going to recognize any breach of contract,” Anglin said. “Congress needs to act before our legitimate business concerns are addressed.”

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who has sponsored a long-stalled pot-banking bill, said he’s optimistic Congress will act on banking, but it may be a couple years off.

“We gotta keep at this thing,” said Perlmutter, D-Colo.

He argued, however, that the banking guidance is an important development for federal authorities who see the problems of a cash-only business but still consider the business itself illegal.

“They’re trying to thread the hole in a tiny needle,” Perlmutter said.

The banking guidance could also help make pot shops safer, industry groups say. Though Colorado data on crimes at marijuana businesses don’t indicate that they attract robberies at rates different from other shops, dispensaries are sometimes compared to jewelry stores that can’t insure their diamonds. Some dispensary owners hire extra security to escort employees leaving the business. Others hire armored cars to transport cash.

“It is imperative that Congress not view today’s guidance as the ultimate solution to this public safety crisis. Congress must act quickly to solve the problem before we witness a tragedy,” said Michael Elliott, head of Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Industry Group.

Colorado regulators in recent years considered trying to regulate the industry using Bitcoin or state-chartered banks but ultimately could not arrive at a solution to the banking problems.

“There was no way to get around the federal part of this,” said Jack Finlaw, lawyer to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, speaking at a forum earlier this week.

- By Kristen Wyatt, AP Writer

Associated Press writer Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

Statement From The Colorado Bankers Association

The guidance issued today by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Treasury only reinforces and reiterates that banks can be prosecuted for providing accounts to marijuana related businesses.

“In fact, it is even stronger than original guidance issued by the Department of Justice and the Treasury,” said Don Childears, president and CEO of the Colorado Bankers Association. “After a series of red lights, we expected this guidance to be a yellow one. This isn’t close to that. At best, this amounts to ‘serve these customers at your own risk’ and it emphasizes all of the risks. This light is red.”

Bankers had expected the guidance to relieve them of the threat of prosecution should the open accounts for marijuana businesses, but the guidance does not do that. Instead, it reiterates reasons for prosecution and is simply a modified reporting system for banks to use. It imposes a heavy burden on them to know and control their customers’ activities, and those of their customers. No bank can comply.

“An act of Congress is the only way to solve this problem,” Childears said.

The Colorado Bankers Association continues to support H.R. 2652 by U.S. Representative Perlmutter and others, which could accomplish a solution by prohibiting federal regulators from punishing any bank servicing marijuana businesses in states where it has been legalized and regulated.

“It is important that a solution be reached, and soon,” Childears said. “Banking services would greatly resolve state regulation and taxation issues, serve customers and businesses in legal transactions and help public safety.”

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) 

(article from denver.cbslocal.com )

ABC reports: Cash-Only Dispensary's become Supermarkets for Crooks!

"They come in the middle of the night.  Breaking through doors, heads and faces covered to hide from surveillance cameras.  Sometimes, they bring guns.

Amid Colorado’s booming legal recreational and medical marijuana trade, thieves are busting into shops and grow facilities looking for cash, sometimes running out with pot plants worth thousands of dollars.

Kristi Kelly, owner of GoodMeds Marijuana Dispensary, was hit three times by burglars taking advantage of an industry that is drowning in cash.

Related: Colorado pot buyers lining up for legalized sales.

In Denver alone, there have been 17 reported burglaries at marijuana grows, dispensaries or manufacturers since January first, according to numbers compiled by the Denver Police Department.

Part of what makes Kelly and thousands of legal marijuana business owners vulnerable is that they operate largely as cash-only companies, without the ability to open a bank account.

Kelly must pay her employees in cash that often smells like pot.  She cannot use checks to pay taxes, or accept credit cards from customers.  Banks keep shutting Kelly down because the US government still considers marijuana illegal, and banks must answer to federal regulators.

“In the last 18 months, I've lost six bank accounts,” she told ABC News. “I feel very paranoid. I feel I’m always looking over my shoulder even if I have nothing of value on me.” "

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