Cannabist Show: He’s CEO of Sensi; He promises ‘side-effect free’ cannabis

Featured guests: Sensi Media CEO Ron Kolb and LucidMood Founder & CEO Charles Jones.

LOTS TO TALK ABOUT

•  Thoughts on consumption-friendly soirees from the proclaimed pot party king of Denver.

•  Creating a “side-effect free” vape pen by digging into cannabinoid mixes and terpene profiles.

•  Entering the cannabis industry with a wealth of business know-how.

TOP MARIJUANA NEWS

Cannabis stigma: Millennials caught in changing norms: The millennial generation, defined as people ages 20 to 36 in 2017, has a unique perspective on marijuana legalization and use. These children of the 1990s and 2000s, also known as Generation Y, grew up and became adults while historic marijuana legalization efforts where unfolding across the United States. And those changes just keep coming. Following the November elections, the number of Americans living in a region where recreational marijuana use is legal went from about five percent to nearly 25 percent. But do millennials, who now make up the nation’s largest living generation, have the interest or political will to keep cannabis legalization efforts moving forward? –Report by The Cannabist’s Bruce Kennedy

Counterfeit bongs hit world of high-end glass pipes, sparking lawsuits: In the rarefied world of high-end bong makers, Roor glass water pipes have long been smoked to impress. The status symbols are so sought after that some models command prices of $1,000. There’s even a diamond-studded, gold-gilded Roor that goes for nearly $4,000. Both marijuana and the tools used to smoke it remain illegal under federal law, but that hasn’t stopped Roor and its American licensee from using the federal courts to protect the brand and its sales. –Report by The Associated Press’s Terry Spencer

Tax hike: What it could mean for consumers, industry in Colorado: Cannabis consumers could be paying more Colorado marijuana tax come July 1. As with any proposed tax increase, the prospect has been met with some concern amid the news that one of the state’s pot taxes would increase 50 percent. At issue is a proposal floated this week by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper that would raise the special sales tax on recreational marijuana products to 12 percent on the date it was scheduled to drop to 8 percent from its current 10 percent. Unaffected would be the 15 percent excise tax on cultivators, the 2.9 percent standard state sales tax and any local sales taxes. “So the buyer won’t be paying 50 percent more in (state) taxes,” said Chris Stiffler, economist at the Colorado Fiscal Institute. “For example, on a $20 pack of edibles, you’re probably talking about another dollar in taxes.” But what does this tax uptick mean when put in the broader context of Colorado’s high-flying, record-setting marijuana industry? Here’s a look at how this may play into factors such as supply and demand, black market pull, pricing, end costs and the state’s short- and long-term fiscal strategies. –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

QUICK HIT

Bid to take down Colorado marijuana laws revived in court:
Federal appeals court judges on Tuesday reviewed the reach of racketeering laws, chewed over case law and opined over olfactory issues in a case that threatens to stamp out Colorado’s recreational marijuana industry. A three-judge panel for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver took oral arguments in a consolidated case that claims Colorado’s recreational cannabis laws fly in the face of federal controlled substances and racketeering laws. The states of Nebraska and Oklahoma joined the dispute after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case. The appeals also included a lawsuit from county sheriffs and another from a Pueblo horse ranch. The plaintiffs’ challenges were among several raised in and after 2014, when Colorado’s first-of-its-kind foray into regulated sales of cannabis didn’t sit well with all, especially neighboring states concerned about federally illicit substances spilling over their borders. Those complaints and the Nebraska-Oklahoma suit were eventually struck down. –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

POT QUIZ

Test your current-events knowledge about a marijuana-themed RV park, the D.C. cannabis activists who passed out joints at President Trumps inauguration and more.