Economic Considerations: Colorado exceeds 5 million in recreational cannabis sales in one week

Good move on the part of the administrators... this didnt belong in the relocation area...

Washington, DC Decriminalizes Marijuana
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray on Monday signed a bill that decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce (28 grams) of marijuana in the U.S. capital, a spokeswoman said.
The law makes possession a civil violation with a penalty of $25, lower than most city parking tickets. Possession had been a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Proponents had backed the measure as an issue of fairness. A study by the American Civil Liberties Union had shown that blacks in Washington were eight times more likely to be arrested for pot than people of other races.

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-washington-mayor-signs-marijuana-decriminalization-bill-2014-31#!Cf6vR

Crime is down in Denver after pot’s legalization, but AP still wants to scare us

After three months of legal pot, Denver has not turned into an urban wasteland. In fact, as Vox reports, crime in the first quarter of 2014 is down across the board from the first two months of 2013.
Yes, it’s still early. But so far, the numbers don’t suggest that Denver is about to succumb to a crime wave fueled by pot-addicted hooligans. (Yes, some law enforcement officials actually warned of this.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/07/crime-is-down-in-denver-after-pots-legalization-but-ap-still-wants-to-scare-us/

Maryland makes possessing marijuana equivalent to traffic ticket

The Maryland Legislature voted on Monday to remove criminal penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana, transforming a criminal offense into the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, once a hard-on-crime Baltimore mayor, said he would sign the legislation into law...

Eric Holder at center of marijuana debate

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Republicans repeatedly bashed Holder for going too far to accommodate the state actions, while a Democrat pounded the attorney general for refusing to call for a study of whether the federal drug classification system exaggerates the dangers posed by cannabis.

Just gotta love the Republican "smaller government" pounded home here...

Just gotta love the Republican "smaller government" pounded home here...

yeah... hypocritical as fuk....

I live in Denver presently, but will be moving to STT shortly. Here's my take. I don't partake myself, but if someone wants to fine. Since we legalized it this year, I do notice it being used a little more openly. And surpise- There are quite a few out of state cars in the retail store parking lots. Yes, we have pot tourists. And if you want to see what that has done for the economy, check out the Denver Post website today and tomorrow. This being 4/20 weekend, the town is filled with festivals and concerts, another boost for the local economy. In fact there are expected to be about 80,000 people attending the events at Civic Center Park this weekend. Although the law says no public consumption, right. Look for the pictures of the cloud that will be over the park at 4:20 pm. It'll be a while before the kinks are ironed out with this thing, but it is bringing in a fairly good amount of tax dollars. Five O was all against it at first, but now the say they need a cut of the tax dollars for more enforcement. Of something that is legal. I live in the north side of town, which is most industrial, a lot of werehouses, etc. I lot of them are now growhouses and the owners are getting amazing prices for the leases, more than some prime office space downtown. Just my 2 cents.

Interesting first hand account Meatman....

It seems the United States is inching ever closer to decriminalizing marijuana, following the passage of new laws in Colorado and Washington, but on the seemingly weed-friendly shores of Jamaica — birthplace of reggae music and the Rastafari — pot remains as illegal as it's been for more than a century. It's a paradox for an island nation that has become synonymous with names like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, but Jamaican politicians and legalization advocates say change is coming soon — perhaps as soon as this year.

Earlier this month, about 300 people gathered in the Jamaican capital of Kingston to launch the Ganja Future Growers and Producers Association, the country's first lobby group of marijuana cultivators. The new organization will push for the creation of a regulated weed industry in Jamaica, which it says will boost the country's economy and spur medical research. As more countries look to liberalize their drug policies, the hope is that decriminalization will allow Jamaica to become something of a pot powerhouse.

"With the global movement that is emerging — in Uruguay, in parts of Canada, in states in the US — there is a sense that the moment is right for Jamaica," says Rupert Lewis, professor emeritus of political science at the University of the West Indies.

And the MOST telling statement:

"There's a sense," Lewis says, "that if Jamaica doesn't go ahead, we'll miss the boat."

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/20/5630942/jamaica-sees-green-in-ganja-marijuana-legalization

Florida has medical marijuana up for vote this fall, and a few bills being introduced for full legalization.

If FLORIDA makes marijuana legal, the USVI is definitely behind!

Florida will probably discuss making MJ legal, but then accidentally vote to make meth legal instead. Oops! Oh, Florida...

Yeah, anything is possible, ha ha!

I don't mind meth being legal - it's a fast way to thin the herd, unfortunately. Drug abuse is a social problem, not a criminal problem.

Amphetamines are actually quite safe in comparison to the bathtub-meth, when properly manufactured. Combat military pilots take Dextroamphetamine pills supplied by the government to stay awake for long hours.

Amphetamines have existed since 1929 and were a major epidemic in the 60s and 70s as diet pills:

America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971

Large quantities of amphetamines were also dispensed in the 1960s directly by diet doctors and weight loss clinics, many of which were essentially subsidiaries of off-brand diet pill manufacturers. Huge profits could be made when the pharmacist was cut out in this fashion; one dispensing diet doctor paid $71 for 100000 amphetamine-containing tablets and sold them for $12000. One widely cited estimate placed the number of amphetamine tablets consumed annually via this channel at 2 billion. Finally, according to the FDA, of the roughly 8 billion to 10 billion 10-mg amphetamine tablets manufactured by drug firms annually in the United States by the late 1960s, up to one half were “diverted” from medical channels altogether. As CBS television revealed in 1964, with a few hundred dollars and a fake company letterhead, anyone could purchase millions of tablets direct from manufacturers by mail, notwithstanding pharmaceutical industry pretensions to self-regulation. When tighter regulation made this tactic more difficult in the later 1960s, wholesale quantities were shipped from manufacturers to Mexico (even to addresses like the Tijuana Golf Course’s 11th hole) and immediately reimported.

Colorado Crime Rates Down 14.6% Since Legalizing Marijuana

Guess what happens when marijuana is legalized? Not only do you not have to steal it, but it also makes your state tons of cash while dropping crime rates in every conceivable fashion

http://naturalsociety.com/colorado-crime-rates-14-6-since-legalizing-marijuana/

[url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/04/30/va-rep-griffith-introduces-federal-legitimate-use-of-medicinal-marijuana-act/?wpsrc ="AG0003336"]Va. Rep. Griffith introduces federal ‘Legitimate Use of Medicinal Marijuana Act’[/url]

Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith (R) this week introduced a bill in Congress that would remove the federal obstacle to prescribing and possessing medical marijuana in states where that is legal, such as Virginia. He said he knows this will be a long hard fight, “but you’ve got to start somewhere.”
...

“Isn’t it cruel,” Griffith said, “to not allow real doctors, real drug companies and real pharmacists to use marijuana for legitimate medical reasons for real patients? We use all sorts of opioids under the same scenario that this bill would allow us to use marijuana.” He said the Virginia law “is the right way to go, but the DEA can’t let anyone use it legally. This eliminates that and allows you to move forward.”

I got a laugh out of this:

Classical concert series in Denver subs pot, brownies for wine, cheese

Searching for a new audience and struggling with diminishing financial support, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is selling $75 tickets to what it’s calling “Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series.” The three fundraising concerts, to be held at a 250-person capacity art gallery, will be bring-your-own-cannabis events. Sixty-five tickets were sold in the first day.

I got a laugh out of this:

Classical concert series in Denver subs pot, brownies for wine, cheese

Searching for a new audience and struggling with diminishing financial support, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is selling $75 tickets to what it’s calling “Classically Cannabis: The High Note Series.” The three fundraising concerts, to be held at a 250-person capacity art gallery, will be bring-your-own-cannabis events. Sixty-five tickets were sold in the first day.

That’s pretty much brilliant, but BYO-C is interesting, i guess it's harder to get a "cannabis" license in comparison to a "liquor" license.

Lmfao,,,,,, legal weed in the USVI.??? Potheads aren't gonna wait around or in line for 45 minutes like youre getting chicken wings,,a hamburger or pizza. My Boi will still be right out front of everything like they are right now.

Lmfao,,,,,, legal weed in the USVI.??? Potheads aren't gonna wait around or in line for 45 minutes like youre getting chicken wings,,a hamburger or pizza. My Boi will still be right out front of everything like they are right now.

the local angle is less of an emphasis than the tourist angle (as far as benefits go). If its legal then everyone should be able to grow plants, with sales regulated to a licensed business (much like alcohol is now).

the local benefit would be no police interference and "shady dealings".

Point taken. My apologies, re-read your thread starter, especially the third statement.. With incidental preparation, perhaps efficient (sorta kinda) normal expected service will persevere.

War on drugs a global failure, London School of Economics says

Five Nobel Prize-winning economists signed off on the 84-page report entitled Ending the Drug Wars: Report of the LSE Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy authored by leading drug policy experts and supported by political figures from around the world calling for drug law reform.

The authors offer compelling evidence that achieving a “drug-free world” based solely on a prohibitionist model is an expensive and wasted effort. According to John Collins, co-ordinator of LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project and editor of the report, the drug policy experts' recommendations show how the war on drugs is a failure requiring a "major rethink of international drug policies."

Charlotte's Web medical cannabis soon to be widely available to Colorado children

Some children battling epilepsy have seen a drastic turnaround and reduction of seizures after using Charlotte's Web, an oil made from marijuana plants very low in THC and high in a chemical called cannabidiol, or CBD.

7NEWS got an exclusive tour of the new facility in eastern Colorado where the five brothers who pioneered the medicine have recently expanded their growing operation. Because Charlotte's Web is less than .03 percent THC, they're now able to classify the plants with the state as hemp instead of medical marijuana and grow at a much larger scale. It also opens up the possibility of exporting Charlotte's Web.

........

The long-term research on medical marijuana doctors and neurologists want to see doesn't exist primarily because marijuana has long been illegal at the federal level. But last week, Colorado legislators approved a bill that will provide up to $10 million to study the health impacts of medical cannabis. That money comes from fees and will eventually provide unprecedented research.

Could Legalization of Marijuana Be in Texas's Future?

As you drive up the long, gravel-lined drive of the small clapboard house in south Texas, not much seems unusual. An old hunting dog suns himself on the porch, and the modest decor of the peeling front porch — a weathered rocker and a swing — drips with small-town charm.You'd never guess that it's quite modern inside, though. Just beyond the front door sit not only tidy living quarters, but a sophisticated cannabis grow house presided over by a war veteran whose hands curl like claws most mornings. His knees and back ache, making mobility difficult, especially when it rains. And here in this small town by the water, it rains often.

A cannabis advocate and medical user, Tim, who asked that we not use his real name, has been smoking cannabis daily for a number of years now, and after a while, growing his own marijuana by means of a hydroponic system seemed the logical way to go.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2014-05-22/news/texas-marijauna-legalization/

Rum is failing us. Another reason to decriminalize marijuana. I am pretty sure the spirits makers are pushing the continued criminal alizarin of marijuana.
Jamaica is now pushing forward to decriminalize. When the Congress matches reason. We will import weed from frozen California and from Jamaica. By that time, Castro will be dead and all cruise shops will head to Jamaica and Cuba.

Rum is failing us. Another reason to decriminalize marijuana. I am pretty sure the spirits makers are pushing the continued criminal alizarin of marijuana.
Jamaica is now pushing forward to decriminalize. When the Congress matches reason. We will import weed from frozen California and from Jamaica. By that time, Castro will be dead and all cruise shops will head to Jamaica and Cuba.

very true, this is a limited time window opertunity that would take decisive action motivated by a real desire to help the people of the USVI.. it would change nothing for the worse (unless you are a drug dealer, but even then it might be better?).

unfortunately it looks like this issue (which should be #1 for the islands really, since it is so easily done, almost nothing additional would have to be done, and if pardons were given to non-violent Cannabis offenders then even MORE money would be saved) might be turning out to be another one of those that will be looked on from the future with 20/20 vision and statements like "we should have" or "if only we did".

Kind of sad really.

This is BS:

DEA targets doctors linked to medical marijuana

US Drug Enforcement Administration investigators have visited the homes and offices of Massachusetts physicians involved with medical marijuana dispensaries and delivered an ultimatum: sever all ties to marijuana companies, or relinquish federal licenses to prescribe certain medications, according to several physicians and their attorneys.

The stark choice is necessary, the doctors said they were told, because of friction between federal law, which bans any use of marijuana, and state law, which voters changed in 2012 to allow medical use of the drug.

The DEA’s action has left some doctors, whose livelihoods depend on being able to offer patients pain medications and other drugs, with little option but to resign from the marijuana companies,where some held prominent positions.