GOP presidential candidates dislike legal marijuana — but some support Colorado's right to have the law (Slideshow) - Denver Business Journal

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks at an impromptu media conference on June 27,… more

Republican presidential candidates speaking in Denver this weekend uniformly criticized the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana — but also said for the most part that they would not attempt to overturn what they considered to be an issue of states’ rights.

Rhode Island state lawmakers recessed the legislative session late Thursday leaving hundreds of bills, including a widely supported proposal to make marijuana legal for adults and regulate it similarly to alcohol, pending action. Legislative leaders have indicated they may call a special session in the fall to finish their agenda.

It's being called the second immaculate conception.

Come Wednesday, adults 21 and older will legally be allowed to possess and use recreational marijuana in Oregon.

But complicating this new, hard-fought-for freedom is one niggling detail: Potential users must receive their marijuana as a gift or get it on the illegal black market because there are still no licensed retail stores in Oregon where law-abiding residents can buy it.

Simply put, residents can smoke and inhale pot, eat brownies baked with it or rub lotions containing the oils into their skin; there's just no legal way to purchase it.

You can buy a Budweiser in Vail. You can smoke a bud, as in the flowering portion of a cannabis plant, in the privacy of your own home. But buy a bud, shatter, wax or chocolate chip cookies infused with THC, the psychoactive agent in cannabis?

Not yet. And perhaps not ever. Unlike some other ski towns in Colorado, which have chosen to treat marijuana similar to alcohol in important ways, Vail has been deeply ambivalent about allowing sales. Almost everybody would agree that attitudes toward cannabis use have rapidly changed, and many people would agree that it’s for the better that the economy of cannabis has been brought above ground.

New entrepreneurs of marijuana in the US dream of Wall Street. "We want to be the Marlboro marijuana," said Jeffrey Britz Reforma, one of the founders of Blackout, a company dedicated to the production of vaporizers for the industry.

Britz and its partners, Travis Belcher and Danny Davis, plan to develop their brand of vaporizers along with another brand, JuJu Royal, for which they closed a deal with Julian Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley.

They, like other cannabis investors are novices: just received their licenses last October. Like others, they want their share of the business of marijuana, valued at about 50 billion dollars annually.

The plan is clear: to develop a brand and once the industry is out of the shadows, sell.

Mild stimulant used to be Maua’s most valuable export, bringing prosperity to all involved. A year since it was outlawed, the local economy has been devastated

In a quiet and unassuming town tucked away in a hilly part of eastern Kenya, the British home secretary Theresa May’s name is spoken with barely concealed anger. Since her role in the ban of the town’s most valuable export, she’s become a universally vilified figure.

For more than two decades, Maua enjoyed booming business propelled by the growth and sale of khat, known locally as miraa, a popular herb whose leaves and stems are chewed for the mild high they offer.

Virginia Tech researchers applied this week for a state license to join the first wave of farmers and scientists who want to relearn the intricacies of hemp cultivation.

“Even though there is a history of growing it, to us, it’s new,” said Saied Mostaghimi, associate dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Tech was one of three universities that had asked for hemp licenses by early Friday afternoon — just ahead of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ deadline for applications. Obtaining the licenses to experiment with what has been a banned substance for decades is an attempt to restart an industry with deep ties to the commonwealth.

SEATTLE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / June 26, 2015 / The cannabis industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in the U.S. overnight, with several states legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, but the rapid growth hasn't come without its share of growing pains. Without a precedent in place, many states have failed to setup effective testing and labeling programs, creating a dangerous situation for many customers that can only be remedied by stricter standards and better testing.

DALLAS, June 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — North American Cannabis Holdings, Inc. (USMJ) announced that the Company plans to file suit today to compel the cancellation of thirty-three (33) million shares of common stock. The subject stock was issued in conjunction with an acquisition to support a historical operating focus prior to the current cannabis industry focus. The acquisition was subsequently unwound, but the 33 million shares remained issued and out. Management maintains that the shares should be cancelled in conjunction with the unwinding of the acquisition. Pre-litigation negotiations have resulted in the surrender of 600,000 of the subject shares so far.

Hotel San Ayre Reopens As a Cannabis-Friendly Property with Signature Bud+Breakfast Amenities