Colorado has made history by becoming the first establishment in the US to be granted

newbie2013

A small store in Central City, Colorado has made history by becoming the first establishment in the US to be granted a license to sell recreational marijuana.

Annie’s Central City Dispensary, located in a city founded during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, posted on social media earlier this week that its license application had been approved. It will be among the first shops in Colorado to begin selling marijuana on January 1, 2014, more than a year after Colorado residents voted to legalize use of the drug for persons 21 and over.





The state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division has accepted 136 applications from recreational marijuana stores so far. Another 400 are eligible to apply, though the state has said only establishments in “good standing” will be accepted.

“Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries,” Steve Berg, former managing director of Wells Fargo Bank and editor of a report titled the state of Legal Marijuana Markets, told the Huffington Post. “Domestically, we weren’t able to find any market that is growing as quickly.”

All of which makes it difficult for many people to understand why the Drug Enforcement Agency continues to launch raids on businesses that have been accepted by the community. Like Colorado, voters in Washington State have also voted to legalize recreational marijuana.

Yet the drug remains illegal on the national level and, because federal law trumps state law, federal police agencies like the DEA are technically permitted to harass and intimidate retail and medical pot dispensaries. US President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have both said repeatedly that federal police agencies would respect state law, a promise that has been continuously broken since 2009.

At the same time, authorities in Colorado have conducted the largest raid on dispensaries since medical marijuana became legal Thursday, with officers executing search and seizure warrants at more than 12 stores in the Denver area alone. Masked agents broke windows and confiscated products from medical marijuana dispensaries that customers rely on to cope with cancer and other serious ailments.

“Although we cannot at this time discuss the substance of this pending investigation, the operation under way today comports with the Department’s recent guidance regarding marijuana enforcement matters,” Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the US Department of Justice, told the Denver Post.

He added that the DEA, Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations unit, Denver Police Department, and local law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation. Dorshner said that while investigators could not comment on the matter, there were indications the targeted dispensaries violated an August Justice Department memo outlining the activities would work to prevent. Those conditions include:

• the distribution of marijuana to minors;

• revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels;

• the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;

• state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;

• violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana

• drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;

• growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands;

• preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.

Washington is scheduled to begin selling recreational marijuana by mid-2014. Until then, with a number of states considering similar legislation, all eyes will remain on what has become the Colorado experiment.

“Entrepreneurs and private investors are flocking to cannabis markets,” Berg, the former Wells Fargo director, said. “Those who really understand market dynamics will reap large rewards.”

Sources:

MadsL

Taking my holidays in Colorado two weeks before this...:o

Wacker The Attacker

weeeeeeeeeeeeed maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

srsly78

newbie2013 wrote: »

• growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands;

People might trip over it??

mikom

Meanwhile in Ireland.............

A conference calling for a debate on drug laws yesterday heard that a man faced a three-month prison term for having cannabis worth just €2.

Homelessness campaigner Fr Peter McVerry said the judge only let the youth off with a suspended sentence because the priest was with him in court and offered to help him.

“It is such a waste of resources,” Fr McVerry told a conference organised by Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign, a national network of community organisations.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/drug-law-conference-told-of-jail-term-for-2-stash-250238.html

Phoenix Park

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

srsly78

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

Completely agree, noone smokes hash anymore. Weed for winners!

mikom

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

Grandad woke up.
Who's turn is it to change his nappy?

newbie2013

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

I get pain relief. My back is ****ed and cant work without side effect free weed. If i never smoked weed, id be fcuked.

newbie2013

Will be defo paying this place a visit from now on.

Karl Stein

And our own bunch of **** in the Dail will follow suit in about twenty years time.

zenno

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

Row row row the boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily merrily live is but a dream. Ahh, that's better.

zenno

Carlos Roca wrote: »

And our own bunch of **** in the Dail will follow suit in about twenty years time.

Not if the fluoride doesn't kill them all first

Malibu Stacy

Phoenix Park wrote: »

Aside from any genuine medicinal benefits for MS sufferers or whoever might genuinely get pain relief from it, smoking hash is for losers.

These kinds of arguments are so tiresome. I hate the smell of weed, but I don't see smoking a bowl at home as fundamentally different (other than the legality issue) than having a drink or a cigarette. Smoking weed isn't some moral failure, it's just a recreational preference.

Phoenix Park

mikom wrote: »

Grandad woke up.
Who's turn is it to change his nappy?

ok, to be fair my use of the term losers was harsh but can't see the great thrill in smoking it myself. I do see the point in legalising it though to try and reduce drug crime.

poundapunnet

Malibu Stacy wrote: »

These kinds of arguments are so tiresome. I hate the smell of weed, but I don't see smoking a bowl at home as fundamentally different (other than the legality issue) than having a drink or a cigarette. Smoking weed isn't some moral failure, it's just a recreational preference.

Yeah, exactly. I can see why it's not to some people's tastes but I don't go around saying computer games are for losers, knitting is for losers, snow boarding is for losers etc. They're not things I see the point in, but there is no point in most stuff people do to enjoy themselves, they just enjoy doing them, that's the point. Everyone has a hobby that other people don't like, but non-smokers pass judgement on smokers with such frikking confidence in their convictions.

hatrickpatrick

Hopefully the rest of the world and the rest of the drugs will soon follow.
Criminalizing victimless behavior has no place whatsoever in the 21st century.

biko

Central City?
Sounds like a place in a superhero comic.

Malibu Stacy

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Hopefully the rest of the world and the rest of the drugs will soon follow.
Criminalizing victimless behavior has no place whatsoever in the 21st century.

Here's the thing: until there are laws governing not just consumption but production, consumption of illicit drugs isn't a victimless crime. It's just that most of the victims live in places like Mexico and Colombia.

Nabber

Wait till they stop the Mexican drug mules at the boarder.

'Where do you think you are going?'

'To Colorado senor'

'Keep up the good work Escobar'

UCDVet

Weed has been all but legal in Colorado for years. I spent some time there ~6-7 years ago and they had more stores selling weed (medical marijuana shops) than coffee shops. They (the shops) would take out full-page ads in newspapers that said when they'd have doctor's on hand to give out medical cards. Really, it'd say something like this:

THIS SATURDAY! 11am - 4pm - GET YOUR MEDICAL MARIJUANA CARD!

Do you suffer from chronic pain, blah, blah, blah? Our trained medical professionals will be on staff from 11am until 4pm. No medical records necessary. All new registrations include 20% edibles

Most people in Colorado are pretty 'meh' about the law changing, since it's been all over the place for so long. Heck, it is way more socially acceptable to smoke weed than cigarettes.

Pen.Island

I don't want weed legalised in Ireland. Maybe for medicinal purposes, but that's not gonna happen. Imagine having loads of stoners driving to work, loads of stoners smoking in clubs, loads of stoners everywhere. Dopey heads on them, thinking everything is "trippy maaaan"

Malibu Stacy

Pen.Island wrote: »

I don't want weed legalised in Ireland. Maybe for medicinal purposes, but that's not gonna happen. Imagine having loads of stoners driving to work, loads of stoners smoking in clubs, loads of stoners everywhere. Dopey heads on them, thinking everything is "trippy maaaan"

States that have legalized weed test for it in drivers.
You can't smoke cigarettes in clubs, so why do you think people would be able to smoke weed?
People who are stoned enough to talk about things being 'trippy maaan' aren't out and about, they are on the couch eating Cheetos. Frankly people who have a few pints on them are a much bigger threat to public safety than people who have been hitting the bong: stoners don't start bar fights, vomit all over the pavement, etc.

hatrickpatrick

Malibu Stacy wrote: »

Here's the thing: until there are laws governing not just consumption but production, consumption of illicit drugs isn't a victimless crime. It's just that most of the victims live in places like Mexico and Colombia.

I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. To give you an analogy: It could easily be argued that the production of Apple products impacts negatively on massive numbers of people's lives (Foxconn, etc) and while I doubt many would argue that the conditions those people work in are an absolute disgrace and Apple should be taken to task over it, should possession and use of Apple products be criminalized as a result?

Secondly, one of the reasons that the production of drugs involves so much criminality is because the production itself is illegal - if it was legal and regulated, then those who do it wouldn't have to get involved in criminal gangs in order to make a living.

poundapunnet

Pen.Island wrote: »

I don't want weed legalised in Ireland. Maybe for medicinal purposes, but that's not gonna happen. Imagine having loads of stoners driving to work, loads of stoners smoking in clubs, loads of stoners everywhere. Dopey heads on them, thinking everything is "trippy maaaan"

Lord above, have you ever even met someone who smokes weed? Has it been in the past 30 years? I might as well say I don't want to see the use of bow ties become too widespread because everyone will be going around saying everything is "spiffing chaps"

wexie

Malibu Stacy wrote: »

States that have legalized weed test for it in drivers.
You can't smoke cigarettes in clubs, so why do you think people would be able to smoke weed?
People who are stoned enough to talk about things being 'trippy maaan' aren't out and about, they are on the couch eating Cheetos.

anecdotal evidence indicates that legalising weed has proven to be a massive boost for pizza delivery services.

Especially ones that deliver Ben&Jerry's as well

poundapunnet

wexie wrote: »

anecdotal evidence indicates that legalising weed has proven to be a massive boost for pizza delivery services.

Especially ones that deliver Ben&Jerry's as well

I mean I know that's a big stoner stereotype and everything but once during a smoking session I got a pizza delivered from a place I could see from my window Your man was pissing himself when I answered the door. I ate the whole tasty fecking thing myself too :cool:

wexie

poundapunnet wrote: »

I mean I know that's a big stoner stereotype and everything but once during a smoking session I got a pizza delivered from a place I could see from my window Your man was pissing himself when I answered the door. I ate the whole tasty fecking thing myself too :cool:

Hope you gave him a decent tip

Wasn't going to tell this story.....but I may as well.

We (girlfriend and myself) once got serious giggles when the guy in the local Spar realised we were back for the second time that weekend for skins, condoms and munchies

poundapunnet

wexie wrote: »

Hope you gave him a decent tip

Wasn't going to tell this story.....but I may as well.

We (girlfriend and myself) once got serious giggles when the guy in the local Spar realised we were back for the second time that weekend for skins, condoms and munchies

Oh I did, I told him "Smoke weed every day!" :pac::pac::pac:. Na I gave him a decent tip, I did feel bad for being so lazy. I'd say people who work in late night convenience shops are probably in a better position than most to give opinions on weed smokers

Malibu Stacy

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. To give you an analogy: It could easily be argued that the production of Apple products impacts negatively on massive numbers of people's lives (Foxconn, etc) and while I doubt many would argue that the conditions those people work in are an absolute disgrace and Apple should be taken to task over it, should possession and use of Apple products be criminalized as a result?

I think you are missing my point. I'm not trying to claim that negative conditions in producer countries should cause criminalization in consumer countries. Rather I am arguing that people in consumer countries cannot claim that their actions do not cause problems: given that the production of illicit drugs has an objective impact on criminality and rule of law in producer countries, consumption of these drugs is not victimless.

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Secondly, one of the reasons that the production of drugs involves so much criminality is because the production itself is illegal - if it was legal and regulated, then those who do it wouldn't have to get involved in criminal gangs in order to make a living.

I agree - which is why I disagree with calling using illicit drugs a victimless crime. I don't think that weed should be illegal, but I also think it is self-serving to think that smoking it is victimless given the social, political and economic dynamics in major drug-producing states. Unless you are buying from a local producer who you are familiar with or growing your own, you are contributing to the breakdown of both democracy (judges and politics are often paid off by narcotraffickers) and public safety in places where that breakdown doesn't directly affect your life.

wexie

poundapunnet wrote: »

Oh I did, I told him "Smoke weed every day!" :pac::pac::pac:. Na I gave him a decent tip, I did feel bad for being so lazy. I'd say people who work in late night convenience shops are probably in a better position than most to give opinions on weed smokers

yeah...thinking back on what we had in our basket it really was bleedin obvious.

Skins, tobacco, waffles crisps, curly wurlys, condoms, orange juice

aah the good old days

poundapunnet

Malibu Stacy wrote: »

I agree - which is why I disagree with calling using illicit drugs a victimless crime. I don't think that weed should be illegal, but I also think it is self-serving to think that smoking it is victimless given the social, political and economic dynamics in major drug-producing states. Unless you are buying from a local producer who you are familiar with or growing your own, you are contributing to the breakdown of both democracy (judges and politics are often paid off by narcotraffickers) and public safety in places where that breakdown doesn't directly affect your life.

I definitely agree with you, buying weed is probably an area where conscientious consumerism is very important. Buy small, buy local or grow your own. Even in the UK there's terrible exploitation involved in the production of a lot of stuff that's grown domestically, and a link with human trafficking. But again, agreed, prohibition makes a damaging act out of something that in itself is fairly harmless.

Pen.Island

Malibu Stacy wrote: »

States that have legalized weed test for it in drivers.
You can't smoke cigarettes in clubs, so why do you think people would be able to smoke weed?
People who are stoned enough to talk about things being 'trippy maaan' aren't out and about, they are on the couch eating Cheetos. Frankly people who have a few pints on them are a much bigger threat to public safety than people who have been hitting the bong: stoners don't start bar fights, vomit all over the pavement, etc.

I'm not on about it causing harm as in violence etc. Sure with a J no work would be done at all!

I don't get why people need substances that change their minds/actions to enjoy themselves.

Napper Hawkins

Pen.Island wrote: »

I'm not on about it causing harm as in violence etc. Sure with a J no work would be done at all!

I don't get why people need substances that change their minds/actions to enjoy themselves.

Do you drink?

Pen.Island

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Do you drink?

Nope.

wexie

Pen.Island wrote: »

I'm not on about it causing harm as in violence etc. Sure with a J no work would be done at all!

I don't get why people need substances that change their minds/actions to enjoy themselves.

I don't get why people feel a need to jump out of a perfectly good plane.
Or why people would possibly want to jump off a bridge with an elastic band strapped to their ankles.
Or what the fascination with stamps could possibly be.

To each his own I guess.

Napper Hawkins

Pen.Island wrote: »

Nope.

You should.

srsly78

Pen.Island wrote: »

Nope.

Weirdo... Are you one of those "high on life" fookers?

Pen.Island

wexie wrote: »

I don't get why people feel a need to jump out of a perfectly good plane.
Or why people would possibly want to jump off a bridge with an elastic band strapped to their ankles.
Or what the fascination with stamps could possibly be.

To each his own I guess.

Any substances there at all? Nope.

They are experiences created due to the personality of the person, they thrive off that feeling. They don't change, they're the same person during the dive/jump etc.

People act differently with drugs/drink in their system.

Pen.Island

srsly78 wrote: »

Weirdo... Are you one of those "high on life" fookers?

1. I have a great time when I go out, being with friends is enough for me. I can do silly things and have the fun without putting stuff into my body that changes my personality.

2. Are you one of those who can't go out sober? Bad reflection on your personality and friends tbh.

srsly78

Pen.Island wrote: »

Any substances there at all? Nope.

They are experiences created due to the personality of the person, they thrive off that feeling. They don't change, they're the same person during the dive/jump etc.

People act differently with drugs/drink in their system.

Your body has a built-in drug production system which can radically alter your behaviour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system

All those "clean" things you enjoy are actually giving you an endorphine/adrenaline/etc buzz.

wexie

Pen.Island wrote: »

Any substances there at all? Nope.

They are experiences created due to the personality of the person, they thrive off that feeling. They don't change, they're the same person during the dive/jump etc.

People act differently with drugs/drink in their system.

You've heard of the term 'adrenaline junkies' no? Have you ever wondered where the term came from?

An adrenaline junkie is somebody who appears to be addicted to endogenous epinephrine. The "high" is caused by self-inducing a fight-or-flight response by intentionally engaging in stressful or risky behavior, which causes a release of epinephrine by the adrenal gland. Adrenaline junkies appear to favor stressful activities for the release of epinephrine as a stress response. Whether or not the positive response is caused specifically by epinephrine is difficult to determine, as endorphins are also released during the fight-or-flight response to such activities

edit: srsly78 beat me to it I see

Pen.Island

srsly78 wrote: »

Your body has a built-in drug production system which can radically alter your behaviour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system

All those "clean" things you enjoy are actually giving you an endorphine/adrenaline/etc buzz.

Which is created by my body, naturally.

wexie

Pen.Island wrote: »

Which is created by my body, naturally.

As opposed to grown.....by plants.....naturally.....

So what's your point then?

srsly78

If the plants are grown inside Pen.Island's body then it's ok it seems.

How about those cannabinoids in yore ma's breastmilk?

Not G.R

Pen.Island wrote: »

I don't want alcohol legalised in Ireland. Maybe for medicinal purposes, but that's not gonna happen. Imagine having loads of drunks driving to work, loads of drunks drinking in clubs, loads of drunks everywhere. Dopey heads on them, thinking everything is "trippy maaaan"

Fix'd

mikom

Pen.Island wrote: »

Any substances there at all? Nope.

They are experiences created due to the personality of the person, they thrive off that feeling. They don't change, they're the same person during the dive/jump etc.

People act differently with drugs/drink in their system.

Yeah.
I knew this guy who when he was pumped up on Adrenaline would headbutt you as soon as look at you.....

Then there was this other guy.......... I think called Pen.Island, who got a buzz off of betting on football matches......... even though gambling has ruined many's a family in this country.

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Please PSG



http://www.boards.ie/search/submit/?user=671769&sort=newest&date_to=&date_from=&query=*%3A*&forum=1357

It's weird what people get off on...................
.
.

poundapunnet

Pen.Island wrote: »

Which is created by my body, naturally.

Yeah but it needs some outside stimulus. I enjoy the interaction of THC with the naturally occurring cannabinoid receptors in my brain. I can go out sober no bother and enjoy myself spending time with my friends or whatever. If someone prefers watching a film to just sitting in a room do you think you think they're sad individuals who are addicted to looking at a screen?

Pen.Island

mikom wrote: »

Yeah.
I knew this guy who when he was pumped up on Adrenaline would headbutt you as soon as look at you.....

Then there was this other guy.......... I think called Pen.Island, who got a buzz off of betting on football matches......... even though gambling has ruined many's a family in this country.




It's weird what people get off on...................
.
.

Sarcasm doesn't suit ya.

My personality is still the same right now as when I gamble.

However, you will not be the same person with drink or drugs in you. And that is a fact.

srsly78

You enjoy gambling because it elevates your dopamine levels. It's pretty much the same as with any other addiction.

Have you no solidarity for your dopefiend brethren? Might be an oxytocin deficit.

wexie

Pen.Island wrote: »

Sarcasm doesn't suit ya.

My personality is still the same right now as when I gamble.

However, you will not be the same person with drink or drugs in you. And that is a fact.

I think you have a pretty simplistic view of quite what personality is and how it can be affected by drink, drugs or gambling.

Or what a fact is for that matter.