November 2nd Vote Could Shutdown Dispensaries

El Paso County District Court ruling this week could set a precedent for municipalities to start voting initiatives that would prohibit future and existing medical marijuana business, the lawyers fear.

El Paso County District Judge Timothy Simmons ruled Wednesday that a controversial ballot initiative can remain on the ballot, despite the claim 16 medical marijuana business tends to have the initiative removed from the ballot. Advocates argue that the initiative violates the state constitution after voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000.

Advocates argue that the new rules allow the state of municipalities to regulate medical marijuana centers, but does not allow municipalities to ban medical marijuana centers after their approval first.
Simmons agreed that it would be improper for the court to intervene by imposing a pre-election legal action. He denied the motion to stop the votes from the same.

"Voters have a right to believe that their votes will be counted and they will know that the results and the elections will mean something," Simmons said in its ruling in accordance with the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Medical marijuana advocates fear that the decision could set a precedent for other municipalities across the state to launch similar initiatives voting. There are currently 13 countries in Colorado is considering a ban on medical marijuana centers in accordance with the Americans for safe access. El Paso is the most unique, because the initiative will also close all existing operations.

18 other selected cities in Colorado are considering a ban on medical marijuana centers in accordance with the Americans for safe access.

The lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said it was time for municipalities to consider medical marijuana centers of business, like any other business in Colorado.

"They want the right to continue to operate its business with the same authority they received from their government when they first opened their doors," said attorney Bob Hoban. "The actions of the district is an unconstitutional attempt to reflect the adoption of regulations. They can not say yes to this thing, take the money of our clients, and then reverse course on a whim."

Advocates are hoping, however, that if the El Paso County bans medical marijuana centers and close the existing centers that existing business owners will be eligible for cash assistance for the destruction of their business.

Steve Hammers, a plaintiff in the case, said that it would be "devastating" for the county to close his business.

"When in American history, it was acceptable to start a business, invest, and then force them to close?" He asked. "It is frankly illegal regulation, allowing building permits, collect fees, and then vote to ban the industry."

BREAKING: Denver Dispensary Robbed

Breaking News: Denver Dispensary Robbery

Denver police arrested one man and called out SWAT officers to look for another after a medical marijuana dispensary was robbed at gunpoint tonight.

In addition to money and marijuana, the robbers stole an employee's car, but quickly abandoned it and fled on foot, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson.

The store at Cherry Street and East Colfax Avenue is about four blocks east of Colorado Boulevard.

A description of the second man, who remains at large, was not immediately available after the robbery at about 8 p.m. The name of the dispensary has yet to be released but from our investigating, we are guessing that this was The Clinic.

We will update this article with more info as it becomes made available.

Lower MMJ Fees for Colorado's Poor

The Colorado State Board of Health on Wednesday approved a program through which poor medical-marijuana patients can apply to the state registry for free and not have to pay sales tax on their cannabis purchases.

But the standard the board approved for determining who is poor enough to qualify for the program upset medical-marijuana advocates, who said some indigent patients will still be stuck with a bill. And even some board members expressed frustration that the health department — which has received millions of dollars in application fees since the medical-marijuana program began — couldn't put together a program that includes more patients.

"I just think with however many millions of dollars, we could have done a better job," said board member Joelle Riddle.

The program was prompted by a bill passed in the legislature this year telling the health department to come up with a way for indigent patients to avoid paying the $90 fee when they apply to the state's medical-marijuana registry. Patients who qualify also will receive a special mark on their registry cards that shows they don't have to pay sales tax.

To determine who qualifies, the department decided to rely on other measures of indigence, such as whether the patient receives Supplemental Security Income or food stamps. Ann Hause, the department's director of legal and regulatory affairs, said the health department doesn't have the staffing to do unique evaluations of patients.

"We thought we needed to start somewhere, and this is where we decided to start," she said.

But medical-marijuana advocates said the standard misses some poor patients, including those who receive Social Security disability payments, veterans and others.

Damien LaGoy, a medical-marijuana patient with HIV, said he makes $14 a month too much to qualify for the necessary programs to receive a fee waiver. Each month, LaGoy said, rent, food, health and marijuana payments leave him with too little money left over to afford the application fee.

"In two days, my license expires," LaGoy told the State Board of Health. "I don't have the $90. I have $1.15 in my bank."

The board, on a split voice vote, approved the department's proposal but vowed to revisit the issue to see whether the standards should be expanded.


Read more: Colorado OKs medical-pot help for poor - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_16392197#ixzz13IMaFmwM

Christopher Bartkowicz Agrees To 5 Years In Prison

Christopher Bartkowicz, right, arrives at the federal
courthouse in Denver on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010.,
with his attorney Joseph Saint-Veltri, left, where he
plead guilty to federal charges stemming from
growing marijuana at his residence.

A suburban Denver pot grower who tried unsuccessfully to set up a federal-state showdown on medical marijuana agreed to a five-year prison term Thursday and was handcuffed in court after pleading guilty on federal drug charges.

Christopher Bartkowicz, 37, pleaded guilty to three drug charges, including cultivation, after federal drug agents raided his Highlands Ranch home in February and seized hundreds of pot plants growing in his basement.

The raid by the Drug Enforcement Administration came after a Denver TV station promoted a story in which Bartkowicz bragged about how much money he would make growing pot under Colorado medical marijuana rules.

Bartkowicz was originally scheduled to plead guilty in April. But he changed his mind on a plea deal and decided to pursue a defense that was based on recent signals from the White House not to pursue federal marijuana cases in states that allow medical marijuana.

Federal prosecutors sought to block Bartkowicz's argument. U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer last month sided with the government, ruling that Justice Department memos about drug prosecutions aren't legal clearance to violate federal drug laws.

After Bartkowicz was blocked from using Colorado's marijuana law in his defense, as well as barred from bringing up the possible medicinal value of marijuana, he pleaded guilty.

Under Thursday's plea deal, which isn't final until Brimmer approves it Jan. 28, Bartkowicz will serve five years in prison on three charges — cultivation, intent to distribute and having pot near a public elementary school. If he had gone to trial, Bartkowicz could have faced a life term because of a previous drug conviction.

After he pleaded guilty Thursday, Bartkowicz tried to remain on bond until formal sentencing. Brimmer rejected the request, and Bartkowicz removed his tie and was handcuffed by two deputies and led from the courtroom.

It's not clear whether Bartkowicz's earlier plea agreement, which he rejected, would have been gentler.
A separate pot grower, Rodney Jobe, was sentenced to three years of probation and time served on Wednesday by the same judge. Jobe pleaded guilty in June to cultivation charges for growing 374 marijuana plants inside a commercial building in Colorado Springs.

Jobe never talked to reporters about his pot-growing business, but Bartkowicz invited a KUSA-TV crew into his suburban home in February and bragged that he would make $400,000 a year from selling marijuana.

Bartkowicz's lawyer, Joseph Saint-Veltri, argued Thursday that Bartkowicz is being treated harshly because he's publicly criticized federal drug policy.

"One has to think that this is to punish Mr. Bartkowicz, to silence him," Saint-Veltri said while trying unsuccessfully to have Bartkowicz's bond extended until January. Brimmer refused.

The U.S. attorney for Colorado, John Walsh, put out a statement after Bartkowicz's plea calling the five-year sentence proper.

"That sentence is appropriate and proportionate given the circumstances of this specific crime," Walsh wrote.

Federal drug authorities are stepping up signals that they don't plan to abide by state marijuana laws that make pot legal.

On Wednesday, the director of the National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, told The Associated Press that Justice Department officials haven't ruled out taking legal action against California if voters there approve a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use.

303 MMJ Deals: 10/21/2010

$250 Ounce of Skunk #4
Metro Cannabis (4101 E. Wesley Ave #1 Denver, CO)
Tax is included with this price!

$8 gram of Blueberry or White Widow
Cannabis Medical Technology (762 Kalamath St., Denver, CO)
$8 per gram is a steal for these top shelf strains! (This = $28 1/8th!!!)

$7 Sour Diesel  Pre Roll
420 Wellness (2960 Federal Blvd Denver CO)
They also have $5 mixed pre rolls available

Tasty Trichomes on the White Widow

MMJ Deals for Tuesday, October 19th

10% Off Everything For Ladies
Kindness Collective (5702 East Colfax Denver, CO)
From 4pm-7pm, consider it Ladies Night!

Buy 1g Get 1g For Free
MMJ America (4347 Tennyson Street Denver, CO)
Wham Bam Gram! Buy a gram get a free gram if you mention the Westword ad!

$30 1/8th of Mexican Sativa
Rocky Mountain Ways (1391 Carr Street #303 Lakewood, CO)
Really strong, mellow high for a great price.

Mexican Sativa for $30 is definitely not shwag!

Strain Review: Hawaiian

This bud sure looks tasty huh?

Name: Hawaiian
From: Southwest Alternative Care (Denver, CO)
Type: Sativa
Price: $45/eighth

This Hawaiian, from Southwest Alternative Care, is sure to get your head where it needs to be.  Hawaiian is a Sativa originating from, well, Hawaii.  The genetics were stabilized by crossing plants with desirable traits to produce consistent offspring that were more flavorful and potent.  This is what I had the privilege of medicating on and reviewing tonight.

The first thing I noticed about these buds, before even looking at them, was the aroma.  They smelled mellow, like fresh cut fruit.  The smell was not too pungent, but very enjoyable.  The Hawaiian buds were a light green color and heavily frosted with trichomes.  I also noticed quite a few long orange hairs peeking through their calyx clusters.  The buds had been trimmed well, leaving only a few leaves that were also trich-covered.  One complaint would be that the main stem on the nugs were large, but when you ripped off a chunk to pack a bowl there were only a few small stems to sort out.  These buds were fairly dense for a Sativa, but broke up easily.

The smoke itself was smooth and fruity on the exhale which was very enjoyable and the high produced from the Hawaiian is fantastic.  I was able to get a good body high without getting the stoney bologna couch-lock feeling typical of an Indica.  The head high was strong, but I was not unfocused throughout the duration, which lasted a few hours.  These Hawaiian buds were very pleasant to smoke and I would love to get this strain again.

This was originally posted on TheWeedTour.com

Marijuana tracking on the way in Colo.

Colorado wants to set up a first-in-the-nation tracking system of medical marijuana purchases to deter people from buying vast amounts of pot and selling it on the black market.

Patients and marijuana advocates fear they will be harassed by a Big Brother-type intrusion as computers and video cameras monitor every ounce of pot sold in the state. Officials are also considering fingerprinting marijuana patients and keeping tabs on pot with radio-frequency devices.

"This is a matter of my functioning daily living," said Diane Bilyeu, a 49-year-old woman who sometimes consumes up to 2 grams of pot in a day to treat her chronic pain since losing her right arm and leg in a 1997 car accident. "Some days I need more or less. I don't know what business it is of the government's."
Officials say the regulations will provide basic protections to ensure that the system isn't being abused by drug dealers and users.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2000, but the recent proliferation of marijuana dispensaries prompted state lawmakers this year to pass a series of new regulations.
It is an issue playing out around the country with 14 states allowing medical marijuana and possibly more to come under November ballot measures.

No state has gone so far to track pot purchases from seed to sale like Colorado is proposing, and regulators say their tracking plans could be a model for other states. Montana lawmakers are expected to consider medical marijuana tracking in that state when they convene next year.

Specifics of Colorado's tracking plans haven't yet been drafted. Regulators say they'll have a plan by January to use video surveillance and a central computer system to flag multiple purchases.

Other ideas include using biometrics to track patients, requiring a fingerprint scan before each sale to make sure the customer matches the marijuana card. They are also considering mandating that medical pot include radio-frequency identification devices, somewhat like coded tags on library books, to keep track of who's getting what.

In addition, tracking could include requiring dispensaries to capture patient driver's licenses on camera to record their purchases.

"It's akin to the protections that are in place for pharmacies, or a wagering line at a horse or dog track," said Matt Cook, the senior director for medical marijuana enforcement for the Colorado Department of Revenue. "You need to maintain the public confidence in what is going on, and the only way to do that is through these systems."

Cook said the state has no clue how much medical marijuana now is ending up on the black market because it lacks central tracking. An unscrupulous buyer could shop at several dispensaries and stock up on large quantities of pot, with no way to notice that Patient X is buying marijuana from multiple businesses.
Cook described a scenario where a patient card is used to buy marijuana several times in one day from dispensaries located far apart. Under the tracking system, the state would be alerted of possible fraud and would notify all dispensaries not to sell to that patient until the state can verify that it is indeed the same person buying all the pot, which would be done through video surveillance soon to be required at pot shops.
But patients are vowing to fight tracking plans. They're especially alarmed that state regulators have yet to issue specifics on how the tracking would work.

"It seems like there could be an ulterior motive here," said Randy James Martinez of Commerce City, 42, who uses medical marijuana for diabetic neuropathy. "Why do they need to keep such close track? Opiate abuse is far more prevalent and far more destructive than any marijuana use or abuse."
A public hearing is planned on the tracking rules in January, but the tracking wouldn't require lawmaker approval because it would be considered an agency regulation.

A marijuana activist who sits on the rulemaking panel, Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado, said patients and dispensaries fear an onerous intrusion and are still waiting to hear how tracking would work.
"Right now I'd say there's a lot of fear and a lot of confusion out there," Vicente said.

WeedTour: NYC Diesel Review

Name: NYC Diesel
From: The Kine Mine (Idaho Springs, CO‎)
Type: Sativa Dominant Hybrid
Price: $50/eighth (no tax)

I love it when I have a hard time deciding what strain to grab while I’m at a dispensary and at the Kine Mine this is a common problem.  I go through a small process when deciding on the bud I choose.  The first thing to weed narrow down the candidates is the look of the buds.  While there are factors that can define a bud, like coloration and density, those characteristics do not necessarily decide on whether the bud is good or bad.  The things I consider that will make or break my decision are trichome content, stem size/amount, calyx content, and trim job.  I chose the NYC Diesel because the trichs were well-defined and abundant, the buds were full of calyxes, and the trim job was great.  One detractor would be the stems.

There were some inch long stems floating around, which was weird, but they were small and light so it didn’t affect my decision.  The next thing I look for is the smell.  A bud can have all of the visual characteristics I look for, but if it smells planty (not trimmed/dried/cured properly) or has little or no smell, it will dropped from consideration.  I feel like the smell of a bud is a trait that that strain was bred for, so I look for a very pungent odor.  Obviously, different strains will vary in smell, but I honestly like the way all well-grown marijuana smells.  So while I look for a strong smell, the type of smell is less important.

The smell of this NYC Diesel is incredible.  A combination of gasoline (guilty pleasure smell) and grapefruit, these buds sting the nostrils. Read The Full Article Here

MMJ Deals In The 303 For Oct 6th

$250 ounce during the Harvest Special
Cannabis Medical Technology (762 Kalamath St Denver, CO)
20 strains available at this price!

$30 1/8th of Afghan Skunk
Kindness Collective (5702 East Colfax Denver, CO)
Buds have some heat stress, but $30 is still a steal. And HUGE props on the honesty!

$5 Cinnamon Roll
Pure Medical (1133 Bannock St, Denver, CO)
With 5.5grams of MMJ this thing is bound to knock at any pain you are in!

$5 for this treat might be the best deal I've seen in a while!

You can smoke weed, but you can't hunt

Matt Solomon started getting calls a few months ago, and has gotten more as hunting season approached. All of them go something like this: “I have a medical marijuana card. Can I buy a new gun for hunting season?”

The short answer, from two local gun dealers, is “no.”

Here's a slightly longer answer.

Solomon, who owns Alpine Arms in Eagle, started doing some research when the calls first came. Here's what he found: People who hold medical marijuana cards may be complying with state law, but marijuana possession is still a federal offense. Since federal law applies when buying or selling guns through licensed dealers, people buying guns through dealers, customers have to fill out a form from the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

That form asks: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”

In the feds' eyes, anyone using marijuana is an “unlawful user.”

If the person filling out the form answers yes, that stops the gun-buying process in its tracks. If the person answers no, and is later found to have lied, that's a federal crime.

Jim Kelly, owner of Bogart's Gun Shop in Eagle, has a direct line to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. During a quick in-person stop at his shop on Second Street, Bogart picked up the hotline and asked a bureau representative if a card holder could buy a gun. The answer was a quick no.

“They're denying anyone with a medical marijuana card,” Kelly said.

Of course, the classified ads for any “shopper”-type newspaper generally have plenty of ads for guns, and private sales aren't regulated the way they are through licensed dealers. But, Solomon said, those private deals can come back to bite sellers.

“Say you know someone who has a medical marijuana card and you buy a gun for him and sell it to him,” Solomon said. “If he commits a crime with that gun, or if it's stolen, it'll come back to you. It can put you at risk.

Solomon said he has one customer who would rather hunt than smoke.

“He's trying to get off the list,” Solomon said. “But he might have to wait until his card expires.”

Original article here

Patients and MMCs cry foul over 35-day restriction

Under Colorado's MMJ laws, patients aren't supposed to buy pot until 35 days after they've submitted their paperwork, because that's how long the state has to reject/return applications. In the past, however, most dispensaries would sell to patients before then because everyone believed they were covered under Amendment 20's "alternative defense" clause. Now, however, the 35-day rule may be rearing its ugly head.


That's because dispensaries -- or marijuana centers (MMCs), as they're officially labeled -- now fall under the purview of the new state MMJ laws rather than Amendment 20. And last week, Department of Revenue senior director of enforcement Matt Cook issued a statement cautioning MMCs not to sell to patients before the 35-day waiting period ends.

The outcry was immediate. "This new policy of restricting medicine to patients until they have been sick for over a month creates unnecessary pain and suffering for thousands of Colorado patients," declared patient advocate Timothy Tipton.

When the ReLeaf Center employees have told patients of the new interpretation, they've threatened to take their business to dispensaries willing to look the other way, says general manager Jake Browne. But when Browne brought up the issue with Cook, he says he was told that enforcement would be dependent on self-reporting of violations -- in other words, dispensaries would have to rat out others not following the rules.

"He wants the centers or patients to do all the dirty work," Browne notes. "The ones trying to follow the rules are the ones getting burned."

According to Julie Postlethwait, spokeswoman for the DOR's medical marijuana division, the enforcement issue is "a question that's being pursued." But even if the division comes up with a satisfactory answer to that, there's still the matter of patients not being able to prove when their 35-day waiting period officially expires. Many patients don't have solid documentation of when they submitted their application, because they didn't send it via certified mail, or they dropped the application off in the drop-box at the health department office, which doesn't give receipts, or they paid with a money order, and can't prove when it was cashed.

"You have a real clash between what the Department of Revenue is telling centers and patients, and how the CDPHE is actually running the thing," says Browne.

Original article is posted here

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Learn to Grow Medical Marijuana: When Youre Allowed As Few As 6 Plants and Every Plant Is Precious

Learn to grow medical marijuana: When you're allowed as few as 6 plants and every plant is precious. Most growing video's and books describe growing fairly large gardens. They don't address the needs of the average registered medical marijuana patient who may be allowed as few as 6 plants to maintain a steady supply of medicine. This video by agricultural writer and long time teacher Dave Curran addresses in-depth how to set up for, and maintain an ongoing medicine supply by growing it yourself. Curran, a former research chemist who did his senior chemistry seminar in 1971 on the synthesis of Delta 9 THC (the active factor in cannabis), chooses one specific growing method, soil-less, and covers it in-depth. This video shows you how to set up two small, growing sheds (one for seedlings, clones, and plants in the vegetative growth cycle and another for blooming plants) It goes over the materials needed and shows you how to set them up to create a controlled environment for your plants. Rather than give wide choices on growing methods Curran chooses what he considers the best and easiest one for inexperienced growers, soil-less, and explains every step and choice in detail from how to mix a fast draining but moisture holding soil-less mix to pH testing techniques. Lighting is covered from the point of view of a tiny six plant inventory with lights that can cost as little as $60, or, for those who can afford it, specific LED lights that can greatly enhance output and which pay for themselves over time. The video also shows how, if the time of year and conditions are right, you can enhance your crop by taking advantage of sun while still maintaining a primarily indoor garden. The video teaches what you need to know about diseases, pests, controlling temperature and humidity, moisture damage, fertilizers, growth enhancers, keeping a notebook, harvesting, drying and curing and THC extraction methods.

Price: $39.95

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Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation

The all new Marijuana Grower's Handbook shows both beginners and advanced growers how to grow the biggest most resinous, potent buds! This book contains the latest knowledge, tools, and methods to grow great marijuana -indoors and out. Use the most efficient technology and save time, labor, and energy. Ed Rosenthal has been teaching people how to grow marijuana for more than 30 years. Let him help you cultivate bountiful buds and lots of them. With 500 pages of full color photos and illustrations, the book delivers all the basics that a novice grower needs, as well as scientific research for the experienced gardener. All aspects of cultivation are covered, from the selection of varieties, setting up of the garden, and through each stage of plant growth all the way to harvesting. Readers can link to Ed's research for additional information,photos,and equipment updates. Full color photographs throughout clarify instructions and show the stunning results possible with Ed's growing tips.

"Marijuana may not be addictive, but growing it is." -- Ed Rosenthal

Price: $29.95

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MMJ Deals For Friday Oct 1st

$10 gram of Colombian Gold or Martian Mean Green
Grasshopper Wellness Center (2243 Federal Blvd, Denver, CO)
$10 gram = $35 1/8th. This place has top notch chronic. Need we say more?

$50 gram of Strain Specific Honey Oil I think I'll try the Super Crystal
SweetLeaf Compassion Center (5301 Leetsdale Dr, Denver, CO)
4 varieties to choose from. Really clean & really strong.

$36 1/8th of Anything on the shelf!
The Releaf Center (2000 W 32nd Ave, Denver, CO)
For new patients on their 36th day after proof of paperwork submission.

$10/gram for Martian Mean Green!? You really can't skip on a deal like this!

Medical Marijuana Grow Guide 2-Disc DVD Set

The nicest produced video on the subject. Medical Marijuana Education created this "how to" video to walk someone step by step into growing at home like a pro. They talk to experts giving you the inside knowledge and secrets they use. You will see first-hand from professional, experienced growers how to control every aspect of the plant as it flowers. You will experience 3D walk through animations of creating a grow space and see how easy it is to instantly get started growing at home.
Price: $25.95

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