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The cannabis industry has been unbanked and underserved for years, often resulting in adverse impacts on public safety in communities where cannabis is legal.

On Monday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that New Mexico-based U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union is the first financial institution in the country to become certified for outstanding U.S. monetary banking protocols in banking cannabis and hemp operation.

The certification is part of a financial services certification program run by the Policy Center for Public Health & Safety in collaboration with state attorneys general as well as a broader certification effort being implemented by ASTM international and PH&S.

Endorsed by Safe Harbor Financial, a subsidiary of Partner Colorado Credit Union,the certification brings banking and financial transparency to ensure the safety of the monetary system for institutions banking hemp and cannabis.

“The cannabis industry has been unbanked and underserved for years, often resulting in adverse impacts on public safety in communities where cannabis is legal,” Majors added.

State and federal agencies accept the overall certification model as the standard of compliance and in implementing general risk mitigating strategies.

Initiative will appear on June 7 primary

Six weeks after Billings residents voted to ban recreational marijuana sales within city limits, Yellowstone County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to give county voters the same chance.

Chariman Don Jones, Denis Pitman, and John Ostlund, who voted against a similar resolution in August, all agreed to put the issue on the June 7 primary ballot. The move comes just 18 days before recreational marijuana sales become legal in Montana after House Bill 701 was signed into law earlier this year. Montana voters approved recreational sales on a state level in the November 2020 election.

Proponents of a re-vote at Tuesday's Yellowstone County public meeting, including Montana Rep. Bill Mercer (R-Billings), again pointed to increased crime statistics.

"It is a remarkable thing to see how many pre-sentence reports indicated that the defendant started in a life of a crime based upon the use of marijuana," said Mercer, who served as an attorney for 15 years.

The biggest emotional appeal came from Tanya Ludwig, who’s son Eric died in 2020 at the hands of a driver under the influence.

Colorado's annual marijuana tax revenue haul has already reached a new high for the seventh straight year, according to the latest data from the state Department of Revenue.
The DOR's latest monthly report on marijuana tax revenue shows that November's $32.5 million in combined marijuana taxes and fees pushed 2021's overall total past $392.8 million. That's nearly $5.4 million more than the previous record, made in 2020 — with one month left to spare.

Colorado collects four different forms of marijuana taxes and licensing fees from the legal marijuana industry: a 15 percent tax on recreational pot sales, a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale marijuana, a 2.9 percent sales tax on recreational and medical marijuana purchases, and various licensing and application fees that state-approved marijuana businesses must pay.

According to DOR records, this year's averages in each of the four marijuana tax and fee categories are higher than those in 2020. But despite 2021 already being the highest year yet for pot tax revenue, the state hasn't passed last year's sales figures, judging from DOR data.

As Mexican and U.S. forces closed in on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera in the winter of 2014, they set out first to find the man they hoped would unlock many of the drug kingpin's secrets, and ultimately his whereabouts.

Characterized as Guzmán's personal assistant, Mario Hidalgo Arguello was intricately involved in the fugitive's comings and goings. Hidalgo's nickname in the Sinaloa cartel was "El Nariz," named for his prominent nose, which made him easily identifiable when authorities tracked him down at a party in Culiacán one night and demanded a tour of Guzmán's hideouts.

Indeed, Hidalgo led the Mexican Marines and a U.S. drug agent to the safe house where Guzmán was holed up, but he narrowly escaped through a tunnel under the bathtub.

While Hidalgo's legacy will be forever linked to the hunt for one of the world's most wanted drug lords, his official criminal record is silent on the matter and instead lists a single marijuana trafficking conviction.

On Monday, a San Diego federal judge sentenced Hidalgo to seven years in prison in the case, which involves a conspiracy to import marijuana aboard a San Diego yacht. U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes followed the joint recommendation of prosecutors and the defense in handing down the sentence — a departure from the 10-year mandatory minimum term he was facing.

Leaders in the Village of Dundee say they are willing to listen to proposals for recreational marijuana establishments in their boundaries, even as they unanimously voted to drop the sunset clause of the village's Prohibition of Marijuana Establishments Ordinance.

On December 7, village council approved the re-adoption of the ordinance with an amendment that removed the sunset clause, which required them to re-adopt the ordinance every year. Dundee had been using the sunset clause as a way to keep the opt-out temporary, but Village Council President Andrea Hickey said the decision to remove the clause was made after the village almost missed its deadline to re-adopt the ordinance last year.

"The ordinance still says that (recreational marijuana establishments) would be prohibited, but the sunset clause would be removed," Hickey said.

"The ordinance would no longer sunset; it would just be in there as prohibited. What happened last year is we almost forgot it, we had to throw it on the agenda."

“The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office (Division) moves the Deputy Secretary of State to dismiss the above-entitled Lobbyist Complaint on the grounds that Complainant failed to specifically identify violations of Colorado lobbyist laws under section 24-6-301, et seq, C.R.S.”

Belinda Sturges approached the Lamar City Council during a public meeting this past November, asking about the legitimacy of the petitions filed with the City of Lamar which placed questions 2A and 2B on the November General Election before Lamar residents.  Those ballot questions dealt with establishing levels of a tax placed on sales of recreational and medical marijuana and in the other portion, for voters to approve or reject the public sale of marijuana products, among other allowances.  Both questions passed.  Lamar Mayor Crespin and City Attorney, Lance Clark, explained at that time, that they were aware of the questions pertaining to the validity of the petitions, but as the matter was under legal review, they could not provide her at that time with any answers to her questions.

The State Elections Division noted, “On November 10, 2021, Belinda Sturges (Complainant) filed a Complaint with the Division, under Lobby Rule 5. 1.1 alleging that Cindy Sovine (Respondent) violated Colorado lobbying laws.  Specifically, Complainant alleges that (1) Respondent engaged in lobbying without reporting her income on TRACER, (2) Respondent circulated petitions that were insufficient, (3) the parties carrying the petitions were not disclosed, and (4) Respondent “represented she was working for SOCO Rocks who only held a name reservation with the SOS.”

“On November 10, 2021, Respondent submitted a response to the Complaint, what included several supporting documents including a scope of work agreement for ballot campaign management services, communications with the Secretary of State’s office, communications with the City Clerk of the City of Lamar, and messaging related to the ballot question.”

“The Division moves to dismiss the Complaint on the grounds that Complainant failed to specifically identify violations of Colorado lobbyist laws under section 24-6-301 et sec, C.R.S.”

Ordinances would permit medical marijuana but continue to prohibit adult-use

A series of ordinances that will regulate the commercial sale, growing, processing and more of medical and adult-use marijuana will now make their way to the Greenville City Council.

However, not everyone in the community — from residents to business owners both opposed and in favor of creating a commercial market of legal marijuana — is happy with the direction the city is going.

In April, the City Council sent four ordinances — two zoning ordinances and two regulatory ordinances — to the Planning Commission to be evaluated and reworked to the city’s liking for potential adoption into law.

During Thursday’s Planning Commission meeting, after months spent on reviewing and altering amendments to the city’s zoning ordinances, members of the commission reached a consensus, voting unanimously on five separate motions — on two regulatory ordinances and three ordinance amendments — to be recommended for approval by the City Council.

“The City Council has crafted these ordinances, they will enact these ordinances, but they asked the Planning Commission to review the language they created and we have done that,” Commission Chairman David Ralph said.

The city violated state law when it put the firefighter on unpaid leave for refusing to relinquish his medical cannabis card, according to a lawsuit. Several lawmakers agree.

Levi Coleman has been a firefighter for the Ogden City Fire Department for more than a decade.

But since September, Coleman has been on unpaid leave from the department, burning sick leave and vacation time, while trying to get reinstated. His offense: being prescribed medical cannabis.

He is now suing the city, trying to get his job back and recoup lost wages.

In June, Coleman was prescribed medical marijuana by a doctor. Two months later, Ogden City adopted a new drug and alcohol policy that required city employees to report if they are taking any prescription medication that might cause impairment if, by chance, they are called in from off-duty status.

Coleman, who is also a paramedic, complied, notifying Deputy Chief Michael Slater on Aug. 31 of the cannabis prescription. According to the lawsuit, he followed up two days later with a text message confirming the chief had seen the original e-mail.

The ordinance excludes retail sale of recreational marijuana.

City Council accepted the first reading of a recreational marijuana ordinance that excludes retail sales at its Dec. 7 meeting. Last summer Origins Cannabis approached the city about opening a cultivation facility at the old Moss Tent building.

The Planning Board drafted the ordinance in five separate meetings from September to November, including an October public hearing prompted by a request from the council in August. The state’s Marijuana Legalization Act requires towns to opt into the legislation. Towns can choose to opt in without an ordinance of their own or can create their own ordinance building on the legislation.

The city has identified zoning districts where cultivation, testing and manufacturing are allowed. Tier 1, Tier 2 and nursery operations, which the city refers to as small-scale, will be allowed in almost all districts outside the bypass. Tier 3 and 4 operations, which the city refers to as large-scale, will only be allowed in two zones — Route 1 South and Searsport Avenue Commercial.

Testing and manufacturing are allowed in all areas that allow cultivation, but there will be no adult use marijuana activity allowed for districts inside the bypass. Cultivation will also be barred in certain smaller districts on the south side of the city near Route 1 outside the bypass.

Large-scale operations are limited to just two districts because the board had concerns about odors associated with marijuana, City Planner Jon Boynton said in an interview after the meeting. The board wants the city to be able to address any issues that might come up regarding odor before possibly expanding those operations into other districts.

San Francisco is trying to fight back against the illicit cannabis market with a bold, new move—suspension of cannabis taxes.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors last week unanimously approved a measure to temporarily suspend the city’s Cannabis Business Tax, citing strong competition from the illicit cannabis market and a crime wave that has plagued the regulated industry.

The tax was approved by San Francisco voters in 2018 and was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2022. Under terms of the ballot measure, a tax of from one percent to five percent would be levied on the gross receipts of the city’s licensed cannabis businesses.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said in a statement that suspending the tax would allow businesses in the city to better compete with unlicensed operators, who pay no taxes and are not subject to other costs mandated by regulations such as licensing fees and lab testing expenses.

“Cannabis businesses create good jobs for San Franciscans and provide safe, regulated products to their customers,” Mandelman said in a statement.

“Sadly, the illegal market is flourishing by undercutting the prices of legal businesses, which is bad for our economy as illegal businesses pay no taxes while subjecting workers to dangerous conditions and consumers to dangerous products. Now is not the time to impose a new tax on small businesses that are just getting established and trying to compete with illicit operators.”

City attorney asked to analyze current guidelines

Upon returning to its cannabis business ordinance Tuesday, the Chico City Council made the decision to ask City Attorney Vince Ewing to analyze what is currently in place and return with some new ideas.

The item was brought forward by Mayor Andrew Coolidge as a way to look beyond dispensaries toward manufacturing and production.

There are currently 24 proposed cannabis dispensaries going forward in the application process in Chico.

Ewing suggested to the council that it directs staff to look at all the options for potentially expanding the ordinance if desired.

“Dispensaries will capture the revenue of funds that are being spent by local people that are buying these retail products in and around the city,” Petersen said.

Oklahoma County authorities found two moonshine stills and a marijuana grow in the home of a Harrah man after a four-hour standoff Wednesday afternoon.

The negotiator KFOR spoke with, Michael Davenport, said the call started out as a suicidal person. After some time on the phone with the man, it came to a peaceful end.

“I don’t know if he’s a good guy, bad guy or any other guy, he’s a person in crisis and he needs some help and we’re all human beings,” said Davenport, a 10-year veteran negotiator with the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.

There was a massive police presence in Harrah Wednesday afternoon during a standoff with 42-year-old Bryant Hodges. Hodges was barricaded inside his home where authorities would later find the moonshine stills and marijuana grow. Davenport said the original call came in from a family member who reported a suicidal man armed with a pistol.

At one point, Hodges allegedly opened fire at officers and nearly hit them. He struck two Luther police vehicles. Davenport worked to calm the situation down over the phone.

Brookfield Township Police confirmed a driver was arrested after a traffic stop lead to officers finding various suspected drugs on Dec. 9.

BTPD stated officers pulled over a vehicle driving from Farrell to Warren for a marked lanes violation.

Officers detected criminal indicators and a probable search cause was conducted on the vehicle, according to BTPD.

BTPD said the following were found inside the vehicle:

The driver was arrested for drug paraphernalia, BTPD confirmed.

State Sen. Mike McGuire said Wednesday he plans to introduce legislation early next year to eliminate the state cultivation tax paid by cannabis growers, a favored target of the industry.

“We need to take a close look at the overall tax rate and whether it is impeding the overall growth of the cannabis market,” he said.

“The bottom line is this: Cultivation taxes are crushing small farmers throughout the North Coast,” McGuire said, adding:

“Basing it off the weight doesn’t account for when the market collapses. It’s simply not sustainable.”

To reduce the financial burden on growers, the Healdsburg Democrat, who serves as assistant majority leader in the Senate, said he plans to seek abolition of the cultivation tax in exchange for a higher excise tax, which is imposed on point-of-sale-transactions.

Kentucky is ending 2021 on a high note. At least when it comes to the economy, according to Governor Andy Beshear.

The Bluegrass Governor told 44News, by the end of the year, new capital investments in the state will near $11 Billion. That is roughly double the annual investment Kentucky sees in a normal year.

“When you look at two of our biggest jobs and/or investments across the Commonwealth, this year, there is Pratt Paper in Henderson,” Gov. Beshear told 44News Anchor Jessica Hartman. “I am so proud of this investment.”

Announced in July, Pratt Paper plans to build two large facilities on a piece of land that was annexed into the City of Henderson for the $400 million project. The first of the two mills will produce 100% recycled paper product and create 320 jobs.

“That is their biggest investment in their history and it will be the most sophisticated recycled paper mill in the world when it is built,” continued Gov. Beshear.

The town of Hartford will be holding an informational meeting on cannabis legislation next week.

The Hartford Selectboard and Hartford Community Coalition want to hear from you in a town hall scheduled for Monday.

They say the state legislature and Vermont Cannabis Control Board are in the process of developing ordinances and policies for a regulated market for cannabis.

The meeting will be held at the Hartford High School auditorium starting at 6 p.m.

Montgomery city leaders are taking steps to bring a medical cannabis dispensary to the capital city.

On Tuesday, council members unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing the operation of a medical cannabis dispensary within city limits. The law recently passed in the legislature allows for five dispensaries across the state. City leaders say they want to make sure Montgomery is one of those possible destinations.

”Dispensaries are looking for cities to be proactive in saying ‘we’re open for business,” Councilman CC Calhoun said. “It’s an opportunity to create economic development and an opportunity to create jobs. They’re not looking to bring dispensaries into a city that’s not willing to say, ‘hey, we’re willing to do business.’ It’s taxable.”

Leaders of a group working to legalize marijuana for adult use in Missouri say they believe the measure will pass if they collect enough signatures to get the issue on next year’s ballot.

Legal Missouri 2022 launched its initiative petition campaign last week in St. Louis. If voters approve the measure, anyone 21 or older could buy marijuana for any reason. Currently Missouri allows marijuana use only for medical reasons. John Payne, campaign manager for Legal Missouri 2022, noted that Missouri residents passed the medical marijuana initiative with close to 66% of the vote in 2018.

The campaign must get about 170,000 valid signatures in six of the state’s eight congressional districts to place the initiative on the ballot.