Michael Roberts 7/1/2010 Last November, deputy attorney general David Ogden wrote a memo advising U.S. Attorneys in states where medical marijuana has been legalized to give a pass to MMJ businesses following local laws. But now, an e-mail trolling for info about dispensary-related crime suggests that some members of the Obama administration are working to undermine the industry. The story comes from Complete Colorado, which published an e-mail from Aaron Flaster, a research assistant for Dr. Kevin A. Sabet, a special advisor for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Read More »

Mason Tvert Executive director and co-founder, SAFER 6/29/2010 According to an e-mail just unearthed by Complete Colorado, a Bush holdover in the U.S. Drug Czar's office is fishing for information that links crime to the growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado. The e-mail is addressed to Colorado's chief medical officer, Ned Calonge, at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and it appears to be authored by an Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) research assistant on behalf of former Bush (and current Obama) drug warrior Kevin Sabet.

Read More »

By Joel Warner 4/5/2010 The drama continues around Operation Fortune Cookie, the largest weed bust in state history, which imploded amid accusations of snitching cops, paid-off politicians and bureaucratic retribution.

Read More »

By Joel Warner 3/11/2010 Keeping track of all the individuals and organizations duking it out on the front lines of the state's medical-marijuana debate is trickier than picking through the med strains at your corner dispensary. To help weed through the chaos, we've created this guide to the state's top marijuana power players, complete with Pot Passion Index" (in which a ranking of 1 equates to "Ban it forever!" while a 10 signifies "Pot for everybody!").

Read More »

By Joel Warner 3/10/2010 Keeping track of all the individuals and organizations duking it out on the front lines of the state's medical-marijuana debate is trickier than picking through the med strains at your corner dispensary. To help weed through the chaos, we've created this guide to the state's top marijuana power players, complete with Pot Passion Index" (in which a ranking of 1 equates to "Ban it forever!" while a 10 signifies "Pot for everybody!").

Read More »

By Michael Roberts 3/8/2010 House Bill 1284, Representative Tom Massey's legislative attempt to regulate Colorado's medical marijuana industry, was presented to the House judiciary committee last week, with plenty of law enforcement types testifying against it -- a process that advocate Rob Corry found unseemly.

Read More »

By Nick Bonham 10/2/2006 Colorado -- Tom Gorman, a former undercover narcotics detective from California, said drug use in America is on the decline and voting to legalize an ounce or less of marijuana in Colorado would drive it back up. Gorman, local director of the national High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area organization, brought that message to Pueblo last week.

Read More »

By Michael Roberts 2/16/2010 The Drug Enforcement Administration raid on a home marijuana grow in Highlands Ranch, coming hot on the heels of similar actions at medical marijuana labs in Denver and Colorado Springs, spurred outcry from the likes of attorney Rob Corry, who called for agents involved in the Highlands Ranch matter to be fired, suspended or otherwise disciplined.

Read More »

Mason Tvert 10/2/2008 SAFER’s bid to legalize cannabis in Colorado was the top activist effort of 2006! Could two people legalize marijuana in a state with more than three million people by relying on a rental car and less than a couple hundred thousand dollars? That hypothesis was tested last year when Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) Colorado tried to expand on its 2005 legalization victory in Denver by running a ballot initiative to make private adult marijuana use and possession legal statewide.

Read More »

By Joel Warner Jan. 27 2010 The Denver Post has labeled Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, a "drug-war soldier" who didn't get the memo that the battle was over. Medical marijuana advocates are calling him the leader of a "war on patients," since behind the scenes he's helping to spearhead statewide legislation, known as the law-enforcement bill, that may gut the state's booming dispensary industry.

Read More »