Colorado Pledges Large Chunk Of Marijuana Taxes For Prevention

(Photo: Sodanie Chea/Flickr)

Colorado plans to spend most of its tax revenue from legal marijuana on preventing substance abuse, according to a FY 2014-2015 budget proposal released on Wednesday.

The proposal allocates $99 million of next year’s budget to the state’s top priority, which is “creating an environment where negative impacts on children from marijuana legalization are avoided completely.”

$45.5 million will go towards youth use prevention, $40.4 million for substance abuse treatment and $12.4 million for public health.

Federal funding makes up 43% of the state’s substance abuse budget and 15% of its youth prevention budget.

A breakdown of the spending shows $5.8 million for a three-year statewide media campaign to educate Coloradans “on the impact of marijuana,” and $1.9 million for a Department of Transportation “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign.

$7 million will also be used to purchase new beds for substance treatment centers, thereby “increasing the capacity for treating marijuana misuse.”

In total, the state expects to see $184 million in marijuana-related revenue between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.

$40 million of that has already been set aside for public school construction.

“Our administration is committed to the responsible regulation of adult-use marijuana and the effective allocation of resources to protect public safety and health and to prevent underage use,” Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote in a letter accompanying the proposal.

Source Leaf Science

Poll: One Month Later, More Coloradans Support Legal Marijuana

Colorado governor John Hickenlooper (Photo: Mike Johnston/Flickr)

A new poll suggests support for legal marijuana in Colorado has risen following the first month of retail sales.

Released on Monday, the Quinnipiac University poll shows 58 percent of Colorado residents support marijuana legalization. That number is up from 54 percent when the same poll was conducted last summer.

Amendment 64, the law that legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado, passed in November 2012 with 55 percent support.

On the other hand, 51 percent in the latest poll felt that marijuana legalization has hurt the state’s image. Only 10 percent said they had used recreational marijuana since sales began on January 1.

Indeed, even as the nationwide conversation begins to change tone, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper has shown little support for his own state’s position.

“I hate Colorado having to be the experiment,” he told local newspaper Durango Herald last month.

Ironically, Gov. Hickenlooper made a fortune as a cofounder of Wynkoop Brewing Company before entering a career in politics.

Still, Gov. Hickenlooper has acknowledged marijuana legalization in Colorado as “one of the great social experiments of this century” and, for his part, intends on seeing it done “properly.”

Source Leaf Science

Marijuana Contests To Join County Fair in Colorado

Pot at the county fair? Why not? Colorado’s Denver County is adding cannabis-themed contests to its 2014 summer fair. It’s the first time pot plants will stand alongside tomato plants and homemade jam in competition for a blue ribbon.

There won’t actually be any marijuana at the fairgrounds. The judging will be done off-site, with photos showing the winning entries. And a live joint-rolling contest will be done with oregano, not pot.

But county fair organizers say the marijuana categories will add a fun twist on Denver’s already-quirky county fair, which includes a drag queen pageant and a contest for dioramas made with Peeps candies.

“We thought it was time for us to take that leap and represent one of the things Denver has going on,” said Tracy Weil, the fair’s marketing and creative director.

The nine marijuana categories include live plants and clones, plus contests for marijuana-infused brownies and savory foods. Homemade bongs, homemade roach clips and clothing and fabric made with hemp round out the categories.

Judges will look only at plant quality, not the potency or quality of the drugs they produce. Other contests – patterned after Amsterdam’s famed Cannabis Cup – already gauge drug quality and flavor.

Top prize is $20, plus of course a blue ribbon. The fair already has a green ribbon – awarded for using environmentally conscious methods.

The entries will be shown in a “Pot Pavilion” open only to people over 21. Alongside the pot entrants will be 24 categories of homemade beer, four categories for homemade wine and one category for “spirits and liqueurs.”

Prizes will also be given for speedy joint-rolling, though fair organizers insist there won’t be any marijuana consumption on-site. Competitors in the live Doritos-eating contest will have to acquire their munchies elsewhere.

Even the photographs of the winning plants will be viewable only by adults 21. Organizers don’t want 4-H competitors in the popular rabbit and goat contests wandering by a pot display.

“We have a lot of families and kids at the fair, of course, and we wanted to be respectful of that,” Weil said.

Denver’s fair is far from traditional, though. Denver County didn’t have a county fair until 2011. Organizers wanted an urban, hip element alongside traditional fair favorites like a Ferris wheel and cotton candy.

There’s a speed text-messaging contest, and the highlight staple of a Western fair, a rodeo, has been replaced with a bicycle rodeo and a troupe of performing pigs. About 20,000 people attended last year.

The marijuana contests aren’t likely to spread to other fairs in Colorado. Officials in Routt County, in western Colorado, voted last year to expressly ban marijuana from its county fair.

And Colorado State Fair organizers have expressed no interest in marijuana competition.

California holds an Emerald Cup at the fairgrounds in Sonoma County, Calif., where guests with medical clearance are able to sample the drug. That contest is held at the fairgrounds but isn’t a part of the county fair.

Source Cannabis News

Seeing Green: Colorado Earns $1.2M In Marijuana Taxes In First Month

(Photo: 401K 2013/Flickr)

The first month of legal recreational marijuana sales generated at least $1.24 million in tax revenue for Colorado state, according to an analysis from NBC News.

Only 18 of the Colorado’s 35 licensed stores provided their sales data, some that had only been selling for a few days, suggesting that total taxes raised in January could be much higher.

Marijuana Business Daily estimates, based on NBC’s figures, total sales during the month were in the range of $8-12 million.

NBC predicts taxes over the year could add up to over $100 million, which would surpass the state’s estimate of $67 million.

In comparison, Colorado took in $40 million in taxes from alcohol sales last year and $166 million from cigarettes.

One reason why tax revenue is so high for cannabis is the rate. In Denver, state and municipal taxes add up to about 29% of the sale price.

Interestingly, Washington state forecasts its upcoming marijuana industry to generate $400 million in annual taxes, but that includes sales of medical marijuana.

On the other hand, Attorney General Eric Holder’s promise to adapt federal banking laws for marijuana has yet to be implemented.

As Fox News points out, until banks come on board, marijuana remains an all-cash business, meaning much of the potential tax revenue could easily disappear.

Source Leaf Science

Now Hiring: Colorado Company Will Pay You Just To Smoke Cannabis

(Photo: Open Vape/Facebook)

A vaporizer company out of Denver is looking to a hire a full-time cannabis specialist, whose primary task will be to test new products.

Earlier this month, Open Vape listed a job opening through its Facebook page for a “Cannabis Quality Control Specialist” who will “sample, evaluate and document details about our cannabis products.” According to the listing, salary will be determined based on “experience.”

While the job seems simple enough, Open Vape Vice President Todd Mitchem told The Daily Dot that the company is looking for a true expert on the subject.

Mitchem says that means someone who can, for example, tell the difference between an indica and a sativa based on smell alone, and someone who is familiar with all forms of cannabis, including flowers, concentrates, edibles and topicals.

The job also entails accurate, objective reporting of the user experience.

(Photo: CannabisEncyclopedia.com)

Open Vape makes vaporizer pens and cannabis oil cartridges that are sold in various dispensaries across Colorado. But with the kick-off of legal recreational marijuana sales, the company, like many others, is poised for expansion.

For instance, Medicine Man, a Denver-based dispensary that carries Open Vape products, is already seeing a boost in business from the recreational market. By this spring, the dispensary will undergo a $2.6 million expansion that will double its growing capacity and revamp its storefront, The Denver Post reports.

In addition to a standard resume, Open Vape is inviting applicants to submit a short video describing what qualifies them for the job. So far, the company has received over 1,000 submissions, which Mitchem says range widely from absurd to serious.

The deadline for those interested in becoming a legitimate Cannabis Quality Control Specialist is March 1.

Source Leaf Science