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School board leaders in Southern Colorado campaign against local marijuana measures
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Approved, gazette.com, Local

School board leaders in Southern Colorado campaign against local marijuana measures

By Eric Young | The Gazette Elected officials from across the Colorado Springs region are lending their voices to a campaign opposing recreational marijuana sales in the city.  On Sunday, an unknown number of El Paso County voters received a mass text message from Colorado Springs School District 11 Board President Parth Melpakam calling for their vote on a pair of recreational marijuana measures.  The message was accompanied by a video featuring Melpakam, Academy District 20 Board President Aaron Salt and School District 49 Board President Lori Thompson. In both messages, the board leaders urged recipients to vote "yes" on ballot question 2D and "no" on ballot question 300. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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Recreational marijuana sales locations limited by city council in Colorado Springs
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Approved, gazette.com, Local

Recreational marijuana sales locations limited by city council in Colorado Springs

By Breeanna Jent | The Gazette A final vote from the Colorado Springs City Council on Tuesday strongly limits where marijuana shops that want to sell recreational marijuana can operate, a move a resident-backed marijuana campaign described as a "backdoor ban" on retail cannabis sales locally. The council voted 7-2 a second time to preemptively prohibit facilities that sell recreational marijuana from operating within 1 mile of K-12 schools and residential child care and drug or alcohol treatment facilities. Councilwomen Yolanda Avila and Nancy Henjum remained opposed. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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Colorado Springs council to cast second vote on recreational marijuana ordinance Tuesday
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Approved, gazette.com, Local

Colorado Springs council to cast second vote on recreational marijuana ordinance Tuesday

By BREEANNA JENT | The Gazette The Colorado Springs City Council is scheduled Tuesday to cast its second vote on a proposed ordinance that will likely prevent recreational cannabis sales throughout much of the city, a move some officials worry could circumvent residents' wishes. On Sept. 10, the council voted 7-2 in favor of an ordinance that will modify city code and preemptively prohibit marijuana facilities that sell recreational cannabis from operating within 1 mile of K-12 schools and residential child care and drug or alcohol treatment facilities. Many other Front Range governments do not regulate retail marijuana facility zoning as rigidly as Colorado Springs could under this rule. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE GAZETTE
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Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more
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Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Xcel drained its $94M energy efficiency budget after marijuana growers took notice — and wants $34M more

By Mark Jaffe | Colorado Sun “Unexpectedly high customer interest” led Xcel to pull the plug on a program helping businesses green their operations — for now. After shooting through most of its energy efficiency budget for this year, Xcel Energy has suspended all its programs for businesses and asked state regulators for an additional $34 million above the $93.6 million already agreed on. In a filing to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary — Public Service Company of Colorado — said that there was “unexpectedly high customer interest and participation in the company’s electric energy efficiency offerings this year.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
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Marijuana user cannot be banned from gun ownership, U.S. court rules
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Marijuana user cannot be banned from gun ownership, U.S. court rules

By Nate Raymond | Denver Gazette A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that a pot-smoking gun owner in Texas cannot be prosecuted for violating a federal ban on users of illegal drugs owning firearms, saying it is unconstitutional to disarm her based on her past drug habits. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the prosecution had violated Paola Connelly's right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment citing a landmark 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. "Marijuana user or not, Paola is a member of our political community and thus has a presumptive right to bear arms," U.S. Circuit Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, wrote for a three-judge panel. READ THE FU...
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Colorado Springs City Council sends sales ban of recreational marijuana to voters
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Approved, coloradopolitics.com, Local

Colorado Springs City Council sends sales ban of recreational marijuana to voters

By Mary Shinn | Colorado Politics, via Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado Springs residents could see competing recreational marijuana ballot questions in November.  The Colorado Springs City Council voted 8 to 1 to send a question to the ballot that would ban recreational marijuana stores in the city's charter. A charter amendment would trump a city ordinance.  The vote followed extensive public testimony that touched on the potential harms of marijuana, the benefits of expanding sales in town and letting voters decide how to regulate marijuana.  READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS
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A call to ban the sale of high-potency THC products in Boulder, amid rising teen mental health concerns
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Approved, Boulder Reporting Lab, Local

A call to ban the sale of high-potency THC products in Boulder, amid rising teen mental health concerns

By Tim Drugan | Boulder Reporting Lab Avani Dilger, a licensed counselor specializing in addiction, has worked with young people in Boulder County for decades. She runs a private practice and Natural Highs, a nonprofit she founded to help teens choose alternatives to drugs and alcohol. Recently, she noticed a change in how local young people are affected by THC products as the potency of those products has risen.    Dilger has observed more Boulder teens developing dependencies on THC products, complete with withdrawal symptoms that manifest as mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. “We have never seen anything like this with people who use marijuana,” Dilger said. “I have worked for over 20 years with people who have used marijuana and who have g...
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Marijuana sales have plunged in Colorado and it is making other states nervous for future
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Approved, Politico, State

Marijuana sales have plunged in Colorado and it is making other states nervous for future

By MONA ZHANG | Politico On Jan. 1, 2014, Iraq War veteran Sean Azzariti made headlines worldwide as the first person in the U.S. to buy legal weed. More than 10 years later, 3D Cannabis, the dispensary in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood where the historic purchase was made, displays a makeshift sign announcing it is “temporarily closed.” The windows and doors on the side of the building have been boarded up. Plastic bags, discarded coffee cups and other trash collect in the corners of the abandoned parking lot. The dismal state of the historic site is a fitting symbol of the plight of Colorado’s cannabis market. What once was a success story has now left a trail of failed businesses and cash-strapped entrepreneurs in its wake. Regulatory burdens, an oversaturated market...
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Study finds even one joint per week enough to boost heart disease risk
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Approved, The Epoch Times

Study finds even one joint per week enough to boost heart disease risk

By George Citroner | The Epoch Times Lighting up a joint once or more a week? That puff of marijuana could be seriously hurting your heart. A new study finds that even relatively infrequent cannabis use is linked to higher risks of having a heart attack or stroke—and the more you smoke, the more danger you’re in. The large-scale research presents some of the most damning evidence yet about marijuana’s impact on cardiovascular health. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EPOCH TIMES
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VP Harris to talk marijuana reform in roundtable with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Governor
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Approved, National, THE HILL

VP Harris to talk marijuana reform in roundtable with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Governor

By BRETT SAMUELS | The Hill Vice President Harris will convene a roundtable on marijuana reform Friday with rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and individuals who received pardons for marijuana convictions. A White House official said Harris will highlight actions the Biden administration has taken to pursue criminal justice reforms, including by pardoning tens of thousands of Americans with federal marijuana possession charges. Harris is also expected to discuss other actions taken on criminal justice reform, including an executive order President Biden signed in 2022 that banned federal officers from using chokeholds unless deadly force is authorized and limited the circumstances under which federal law enforcement can use no-knock warrants. READ THE FU...
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