Alicia Wallace

Alicia Wallace

Alicia Wallace is a business reporter who specializes in covering the cannabis industry for The Denver Post and, formerly, for its web vertical The Cannabist. In her 15 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, Sports Authority, craft beer, airlines, biotech, technology and natural foods.

Recent posts by Alicia Wallace

Americans support federal bill to shield legal cannabis states: new poll

The federal bill query was one of 11 marijuana-related questions on the survey, the largest number of cannabis questions posed to-date on a single Quinnipiac poll.

Pass the hemp: Colorado prepares to regulate the plant like any other food ingredient

With the stroke of a pen, hemp could be treated like any other food ingredient under Colorado law. A bill is on its way to Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk to apply existing food manufacturing guidelines to products such as hemp oil-infused coffee and CBD-rich extracts made from the non-psychoactive cannabis…

Pharmaceutical CBD bill heads to Colorado governor

A bill that creates a lane for the prescribing of FDA-approved CBD medicines in Colorado is now on the  road to the governor’s desk.

Colorado senators throw their support behind Majority Leader McConnell’s hemp bill

“Removing industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act is a commonsense move, which would create jobs and get the government out of the way of Colorado’s farmers and agricultural industry,” Sen. Cory Gardner said in a statement.

Cannabis Trade Federation forms in wake of Gardner-Trump marijuana deal

“We may have entered a historic moment where Congress and the president are poised to act to align our industry with our nation’s federalist ideals.”

Cannabis industry not king in Colorado economy: new report

Colorado’s marijuana industry is booming and boisterous, but the burgeoning business sector is a mere blip on the state’s broader employment and revenue picture.

Colorado marijuana delivery bill snuffed

Efforts to test drive cannabis delivery in Colorado stalled out in a state legislative committee. Members of the Senate Judiciary committee on Wednesday voted 3 to 2 to kill House Bill 1092, which sought to create a marijuana delivery pilot program in the state. This was the second legislative effort…

GW Pharmaceuticals’ CEO talks Epidiolex, future of cannabidiol medicine

“It is by far the most important product that we are developing today.”

MassRoots reports net loss of $44 million in 2017

More than $22 million of those losses were the value of stock-based compensation to former employees, board members and business consultants.

Sen. Cory Gardner shares details of marijuana deal forged with Trump

“I’m confident, after this discussion, that we have the protections that we were looking for” Gardner said.

Sen. Cory Gardner: Trump has agreed to support state-legal marijuana protections

As part of the deal, the Republican senator agreed to lift his blockade on U.S. Department of Justice nominees.

Hemp Farming Act of 2018 introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell

The bill, if successful, would end the debate that has picked apart the hemp plant.

Computers to cannabis: HP jumps into marijuana industry

The digital cash registers ringing up customers coffee shops and chic boutiques will soon stationed in marijuana dispensaries. Computer giant HP announced Wednesday it is packaging its point-of-sale ElitePOS hardware with cannabis compliance software from Flowhub, a Denver-based business that operates in eight states. The partnership addresses the growing need…

This struggling oil and gas company will soon sell you CBD-infused personal care products

This is a trend.

Colorado lawmakers again say no to cannabis clubs

Colorado lawmakers have doused the latest legislative attempt to establish licensed cannabis consumption clubs in the state. 

Colorado company’s CBD blending in at juice and smoothie bars

Colorado’s CW Hemp just inked a deal to sell their high-CBD hemp extracts at California organic-vegan food, juice and smoothie powerhouse Rawkin Juice, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

New Belgium’s new hemp beer is on tap now. Except in Kansas. Here’s why.

Beer aficionados and hemp advocates across the country can now toast a pint of New Belgium’s Hemperor HPA. Except in Kansas, where the craft brew — like hemp — is banned.

Colorado cannabis company Organa Brands founder stepping down

The planned transition has been a couple of years in the making, company leaders told The Cannabist.

Cannabis-infused beer is coming to Colorado

Ceria Beverages, a Colorado firm started by the creator of Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, is developing a line of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused craft beers.

What the world can learn from the first country to legalize marijuana

“It’s always hard to go first, but it’s not as hard to go second and third,” said the Brookings Institution’s John Hudak.

Diversity is coming to Colorado’s marijuana industry, business leaders and social justice crusaders say

Terrell Davis delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Minority Cannabis Business Association Opportunity Summit, an event aimed at improving minority participation in the cannabis industry.

Federally legal hemp gets jolt from Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell

Colorado’s burgeoning hemp industry got a jolt Monday when Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s Majority Leader, gave his full-throated support of shoring up federal laws around hemp. McConnell announced plans to introduce The Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which would remove hemp from regulation as a controlled substance and treat it…

All hail The Hemperor: New Belgium Brewery launches hemp beer

New Belgium Brewery debuts The Hemperor HPA on April 2. The hemp pale ale blends hemp and hops for an earthy take on the traditional IPA and smells like, “a loud bag of weed.”

Senate passes spending bill with medical marijuana protections, Trump agrees to sign it

A $1.3 trillion spending bill that cleared the U.S. Congress includes language that would continue shielding states’ medical marijuana programs from U.S. Department of Justice interference.

New Sessions memo pushes death penalty for big drug dealers. That could include legal marijuana business owners.

Little-known federal law makes it possible to execute people who grow more than 60,000 marijuana plants.

CBD could be in the fast lane to Colorado pharmacies

A new bill would give GW Pharma a lane to sell Epidiolex in Colorado, but hemp growers worry it paves a “superhighway” to monopoly.

A Boulder entrepreneur helped to bring chai tea to the mainstream. Now, he hopes to do the same with CBD.

Natural Products Expo West, the industry’s largest trade show, served as the coming out party for CBD and brands like Weller Snacks, makers of hemp extract-enriched coconut bites.

Indiana state lawmakers use arcane rule to turn CBD legalization legislation into a gun bill

Indiana state lawmakers enacted a “strip and replace” procedure on House Bill 1214, replacing provisions to regulate the sale of low-THC, cannabidiol-rich extracts derived from hemp with language instead related to handgun regulations.

CBD debuts at world’s largest natural products trade show, heralded as “next big thing”

Cannabidiol stepped into the spotlight at Natural Products Expo West, where hemp industry experts said the U.S. CBD market could hit $1.9 billion by 2022.

Cannabis cultivation a go for giant Canadian tomato greenhouse

The facility that’s the size of about 19 football field is “conservatively” expected to produce 75,000 kilograms, or about 165,350 pounds, of cannabis annually.

Colorado cannabis firms could get publicly traded, out-of-state investors under proposed bill

A bill advancing through the Colorado legislature would open the doors for out-of-state individuals and publicly traded companies to invest or have ownership interest in state-licensed cannabis businesses.

Bill licensing marijuana “tasting rooms” introduced in Colorado legislature

“This bill will help make sure people aren’t consuming more than they should and are doing it in an environment no different than what you would see at a winery or brewery,” sponsor Rep. Jonathan Singer said.

Airport “amnesty boxes” for weed? Denver International Airport doesn’t see the need

“I think people got the message loud and clear that they were not supposed to fly with the drug,” DIA spokesman Heath Montgomery said.

Cannabis descheduling not one of pharma giant’s “core priorities”

Eli Lilly & Co. made the declaration in response to a shareholder resolution that would require the company to support cannabis descheduling

Launch of cannabis beverages in Canada could be “big business” for alcohol Goliath

Constellation Brands has their sights on developing marijuana-based beverages for sale in markets around the globe, COO Bill Newlands said.

Federal appeals court hears hemp industry lawsuit challenging DEA’s position on CBD

DEA officials say a rule on CBD is innocuous and administrative. Hemp advocates claim it’s the opening salvo in a federal offensive against the American hemp industry.

Molson Coors calls legal marijuana a “risk factor” for its beer business

“Although the ultimate impact is currently unknown, the emergence of legal cannabis in certain U.S. states and Canada may result in a shift of discretionary income away from our products or a change in consumer preferences away from beer,” the company wrote in its latest 10-K filing.

Bill creating Colorado marijuana delivery pilot program rolls forward

Colorado’s House Finance Committee advanced a bill which would establish a pilot project allowing for home delivery of medical and recreational cannabis.

Recreational marijuana sales highest per capita in Colorado’s southern border towns

The interstate traffic, notably visitors from New Mexico and Texas, are what drive sales to Las Animas County, said Trinidad City Manager Greg Sund.