Tag: Marijuana

Glenwood Springs Approves Retail Sale of Recreational Marijuana

MJThe Glenwood Springs, Colorado, City Council has approved retail sales of recreational marijuana, and will soon start working on devising rules for licensing retail vendors. Glenwood Springs Mayor Leo McKinney said, “There’s a sentiment on my council that we don’t like to see government get in the way of business, no matter what the business is.” Currently, a quarter of the medical marijuana business in Glenwood comes from Grand Junction and Mesa County.  The Grand Junction City Council and Mesa County Commissioners have voted to ban retail sales of recreational marijuana. The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce opposed Amendment 64, which legalized recreational use of marijuana state-wide, but has not offered the community an update on where they stand now that the measure’s passage is starting to create a new industry and generate new jobs and public revenue in Colorado. The Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce Board opposed Amendment 64, has not changed their position opposing recreational use of marijuana, and,according to Glenwood Chamber President Marianne Virgili, does not plan to revisit the issue any time soon.

Main Source: KREX-TV Grand Junction, October 9, 2013 

Legal Marijuana and Big Tobacco

Will this soon be the new reality in Colorado and Washington?

Will this soon be the new reality in Colorado and Washington?

Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in Colorado and Washington state. People can possess up to an ounce of marijuana and smoke it on private property without fear of legal punishment. Tobacco companies predicted this moment would come and have been preparing for liberalized marijuana laws since the last cultural shift occurred around pot in the 1970s.

Notes from a 1976 “Problem Laboratory” (brainstorming) session of Lorillard Tobacco Company’s advertising employees in April 1976 mention marijuana. Members of the group were encouraged to present their goals and wishes in the form of “How To” and “I wish” statements. Participants were instructed to come up all kinds of ideas, even ones that were illegal, immoral or non-feasible (all of which makes this document particularly fascinating and insightful). With all need to appear decent and moral removed, these employees were able to express their most sincere and ambitious wishes and desires for their products:

In Session #1 participants were asked to identify ways to give smokers more perceived value in their cigarettes.  Ideas expressed by the group included Idea #38: “How to have a cigarette with MJ [marijuana] added to it.” While we’re there, other entertaining items include Idea #50: “How to make it so addictive: one cigarette and you’ve got him for life,” and (#51), “How to have a cigarette specifically for children (sparkler additive candy).” Even more: “How to have an aphrodisiac [in cigarettes],” “How to make cigarettes more like Linus’ blanket,” and “How [to use cigarettes to] deliver birth control (for men).”