States most likely (Michigan) and least likely (Texas) to legalize pot by 2017
Michigan and Nevada are among the U.S. states most likely to legalize pot by 2017; Texas and Indiana are among the least likely states, a new report says.
Ricardo Baca
Ricardo Baca is a contributing editor for The Cannabist. He was appointed The Denver Post's first marijuana editor in November 2013 and spearheaded the formation of The Cannabist, a division of the Post. Fortune magazine ranked Baca as one of the seven most powerful people in American cannabis while the Brookings Institution said he's one of 12 key people to watch in marijuana policy. Considered by Vice as 'the nation's most prestigious weed editor,' Baca is also the subject of the feature-length documentary 'Rolling Papers.' Baca also founded music blog Reverb and co-founded music festival The UMS.
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Recent posts by Ricardo Baca
State of Colorado is hiring: Deputy Director of Marijuana Coordination
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The state of Colorado’s Office of Marijuana Coordination is now hiring. The position? Deputy Director of Marijuana Coordination. More on how to apply.
Dixie Elixirs inks infused-product licensing deal to expand Down Under
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One week after announcing its expansion into pot shops in Oregon and Arizona, Denver-based marijuana company Dixie Brands will soon announce its next foray outside of Colorado — into Australia and New Zealand, The Cannabist has learned.
Funniest Insta (so far) at #MJBizCon references Donald Trump’s pot policy
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The funniest Instagram post (so far) from this week’s Marijuana Business Convention in Las Vegas winkingly chides Donald Trump and his marijuana policy.
Colorado monthly marijuana sales slump in September
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After four consecutive months of growth, medical and recreational cannabis sales in Colorado saw a downturn in September, according to new data released by the state’s Department of Revenue this week.
Leafs by Snoop: The scoop on Snoop Dogg’s new weed line in Colorado
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Snoop Dogg introduced his new line of cannabis and marijuana products at an extravagant private party at a suburban Denver home on Nov. 9. Get info on the Leafs by Snoop products now available in Colorado and an inside look at the party.
Watch Stephen Colbert grill Ohio Gov. John Kasich on marijuana legalization
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When Stephen Colbert pressed Ohio Gov. John Kasich about marijuana legalization, it ended up being one of the more frank conversations about cannabis on TV.
The DEA is peeping your Instagram, and your #420 #LoudChallenge, too
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The DEA said that around 1,200 new photos and videos tagged #BHO were posted to Instagram each day in 2014. So yes, the DEA is looking at your Insta.
Update: Push for DEA chief to resign over his medical marijuana remarks
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In his black-and-white assessment of medical cannabis, DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg also contradicted one of the most important and thorough evaluations of marijuana’s medical applications — an exhaustive analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June.
You’ll be surprised at how shockingly little Willie Nelson knows about weed
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After all these hazy decades, Willie Nelson doesn’t know much about marijuana.
A marijuana cookbook’s release luncheon — with pot-infused samples?
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Only amid the 420-friendly crunch of Boulder, Colo., will you find a luncheon celebrating the release of a new marijuana cookbook — with infused samples from one of the book’s recipes being handed out to attendees.
Video: How does this Bravo star get high? A custom vape pen, that’s how
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He’s one of the biggest, most visible stars on cable channel Bravo — and what’s his preferred method of getting stoned? Oddly, it involves a Colorado vape pen company.
Q: ‘Have you ever tried marijuana?’ Charting U.S. answers, from 1969-2015
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Real talk: Have you ever tried marijuana? It’s a simple enough question — and it’s one respected pollsters Gallup have been asking U.S. residents since the ’60s. As you might imagine, Americans’ answers have altered dramatically in that time. And here are our answers, from 1969-2015.
U.S. marijuana use, approval of legalization soaring
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Support for cannabis legalization is at record highs in the U.S. according to a fall Gallup poll, while new research shows marijuana use has doubled among U.S. adults in past decade.
Legal marijuana in Canada: What’s up after the Liberals’ election-night rout?
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Canada’s prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau promised legal marijuana if he and his Liberal party were elected. They were elected Monday. Will pot be next?
Halloween 2015: Is marijuana candy really a concern for trick-or-treaters?
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As Halloween 2015 draws near, government agencies across the U.S. have put the word out about the possibility of marijuana-infused candies being given to trick-or-treaters. We look at Halloween 2014 in Colorado and Washington to see if that is a real concern.
Richard Branson: UN to ask world govs to weigh drug decriminalization
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British entrepreneur Richard Branson has released what he says is an embargoed report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that will “call on governments around the world to decriminalize drug use and possession for personal consumption for all drugs,” Branson wrote on his virgin.com blog.
Exclusive: Snoop Dogg wishes Colorado a happy pot tax holiday
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Even Snoop Dogg knows about the one-day Colorado marijuana tax holiday — and he has a message for shoppers in the first state to have recreational weed sales.
Colorado pot sales spike in July, set recreational and medical records
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Colorado marijuana sales for July: $56.4 million for recreational weed is a record figure; medical marijuana sales were also at their highest in the recreational era’s 19 months of recorded data, reaching more than $39.8 million.
NORML and others slam Denver group pushing for social cannabis use
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After activists last week pulled a Denver marijuana initiative from the November ballot, other pro-legalization activists have lashed out at what they see as backpedaling by their like-minded colleagues.
See the results from Denver Post testing for pesticides in pot products
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See the original test results from Colorado lab Gobi Analytical, which The Denver Post hired to conduct testing on marijuana products from Denver shops.
Guess who made the list? The top 50 most influential marijuana consumers
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One of the largest marijuana advocacy organizations in the United States released a 2015 list that ranks who it thinks are the most successful and influential Americans to ever ingest cannabis.
Flaming Lips in Colorado: ‘Backstage there’s a giant bowl of marijuana …’
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When the Flaming Lips played Mumford & Sons’ traveling festival in Salida, Colorado, singer Wayne Coyne couldn’t help but mention the marijuana backstage.
Colorado edibles giant to soon release CBD-enriched pet treats all over U.S.
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Colorado-based marijuana edibles behemoth Dixie Brands will soon launch two hemp-based CBD product lines: Therabis for pets and Aceso for humans.
‘Top Chef’ champ serving up four-course, weed-paired Colorado dinner
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Boulder-based “Top Chef” champion Hosea Rosenberg is prepping a four-course Harvest Dinner this fall that features cannabis and cocktail pairings.
Colorado pot sales spike in June, top $50 million for first time
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The retail pot sales figures for June 2015 also saw their largest-ever month-over-month increase, adding credibility to 2014 trends that hinted at marijuana sales spiking in Colorado tourism’s high seasons of summer and winter.
Missouri man Jeff Mizanskey, serving life sentence for pot, ‘is coming home’
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Jeff Mizanskey, a 62-year-old Missouri man sentenced to life in prison without parole for non-violent marijuana offenses, will be released from the state’s maximum-security prison in Jefferson City in less than a month, according to his son.
Oregon congressman: Pot ‘should not be categorized as a Schedule I drug’
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U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat, wrote a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch today urging her “to reschedule or de-schedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act to reflect science and the government’s position on this issue.”
Santa Ana cops who raided dispensary now want to hide incriminating video
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Police who raided a California dispensary and acted unprofessionally filed a lawsuit to keep the video footage away from an internal affairs investigation.
Colorado edibles company recalls MaryMint Tincture after inspection
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A Boulder company that manufactures cannabis-infused edibles has voluntarily initiated a state-wide recall on one of its products because of “a lack of temperature control during the manufacturing and distribution processes,” according to Denver’s Department of Environmental Health. No illnesses have been attributed to the recall, the city confirmed.
Denver ABC affiliate to run pot ad before Jimmy Kimmel
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Denver ABC affiliate KMGH will run its first advertisement for a legal marijuana company in the next week, the station confirmed to The Cannabist on Thursday.
Why Susan Sarandon wants to ‘blaze one’ with these famous rappers
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Exactly one year ago, actress Susan Sarandon predicted this of marijuana: “It will be legal everywhere.” Sarandon has never been shy about her love of weed. And now she’s inviting a couple famous MCs to “blaze one” while they discuss hip-hop slang.
Update: Mystery solved on these cannabis cop car photos
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Think these photos of a young woman smoking a joint while behind the wheel of what appears to be a police cruiser are real? Have a look.
Poll: Half of America says legal pot won’t make U.S. roads more dangerous
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While half of Americans don’t think marijuana will have any impact on the safety of roads in legalized states, 47 percent said in a recent Gallup poll that legal cannabis will make driving less safe in states selling recreational pot.
Colorado’s pot tax for schools sets record in May, crushes 2014 totals
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Colorado’s just-released marijuana tax data for May 2015 shows one clear winner: schools. The state’s special pot tax for schools reached record highs in May.
Denver’s hospitality industry conflicted on social pot use
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The proposed initiative that would allow Denver entrepreneurs to open their 21-and-up business and patio spaces to limited marijuana consumption has divided many in the city – and it’s not even clear yet if the question will land on the city’s November 2015 ballot.
How the Library of Congress just gave Earth’s top stoner the Gershwin Prize
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That just happened: The Library of Congress just awarded the respected Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to one of the planet’s biggest stoners.
Poll: Denver voters favor limited pot use in bars
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Denver marijuana poll: A majority of voters in the city support an initiative that would allow limited pot use (no indoor smoking) in businesses such as bars or other 21-and-over venues.
Portland, Oregon — where $10 buys you a weed-infused coffee on Sunday
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Our pals in Oregon are acclimating to their new-found freedom quite naturally. At Elevated Coffee, those 21 and older can buy a weed-infused coffee for $10.
Trending: And this is the exact time we’re all Googling ‘how to roll a joint’
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At what time do we Google the “weather” or “porn”? What time do searches for “how to roll a joint” peak? A look at Google’s new, first-of-its-kind data.
How this former ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ hopes to grow legal weed in New York
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The man who was once the vice president of corporate finance at Stratton Oakmont — Jordan Belfort’s fraudtastic investment banking firm at the center of Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” — is now a ganjapreneur looking to grow legal marijuana in New York.
Modest Mouse singer rips Portland, worries about his drug-dealer friends
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Watch: Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock rips his hometown of Portland, Oregon, and explains his concern for his drug-dealing friends amid legal marijuana.
CannaCamp: Pot-friendly ranch resort postpones opening to summer 2016
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The marijuana-friendly ranch resort in Colorado that has been plastered all over international media for a month isn’t opening this week, or even this year, as planned, The Cannabist has learned.
Cannabist Show: She makes topicals; Her cannabis group hosted Rand Paul
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Our guests on The Cannabist Show this week: Mary Jane’s Medicinals owner Dahlia Mertens and National Cannabis Industry Association deputy director Taylor West.
Oregon: With legal pot (but no sales), Washington’s border shops see surge
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Marijuana became legal in Oregon on Wednesday — but recreational pot shops won’t open there for three months or longer, and now many Oregonians who are wondering where to obtain this newly legal plant matter are heading north to the Washington border.
How Brian Wilson heard ‘Rubber Soul,’ got baked and wrote ‘God Only Knows’
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The short story, as told by Beach Boys singer-songwriter Brian Wilson, of hearing the Beatles ‘Rubber Soul,’ getting really stoned and writing one of the most beloved rock songs of all time.
Kim Kardashian thinks brother Rob ‘smokes weed, drinks beer’ all day long
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Kim Kardashian says her reclusive brother Rob Kardashian “smokes weed, drinks beer, hangs out and plays video games with his friends all day long.”
Trending: Ganjapreneur and rapper buy $4,000 wheelchair for pot activist
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After marijuana dispensary manager Marla James, an amputee, was taunted by cops, a ganjapreneur and gangsta rapper gifted her a new $4,000 power wheelchair.
Rush Limbaugh tries to understand the concept of ‘wake and bake,’ fails
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After Rush Limbaugh fails to understand what it means to “wake and bake,” he cites a recent study on medical pot – and effectively admits he didn’t read it.
Stoned dog video: Dosing pets isn’t funny or harmless. It’s animal abuse
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A reminder, given the now-viral stoned dog video: Dosing your pets with too much psychoactive marijuana isn’t funny or harmless. It’s reckless and abusive.
