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Westword
reports that Annie’s, a medical marijuana center in Central
City, Colorado, recently received the state’s very first
recreational pot license. It is also, as far as I know, the world’s
very first recreational pot license, since Colorado is the first
jurisdiction in history to officially and explicitly allow the sale
of cannabis for general consumption. It is ahead of Washington,
which
started accepting license applications on Monday. And although
the sale of marijuana by “coffee shops” has been tolerated in the
Netherlands since the 1970s, such transactions remain illegal
there. Prior to prohibition, cannabis was an ingredient in various
over-the-counter remedies, but they were ostensibly for medical
use, and there would have been no reason for a business selling
them to hold a marijuana-specific license. So unless
pre-prohibition China or India issued licenses to recreational pot
shops, I’d say this is the first. 

Central City,
the seat of Gilpin County, is a Rocky Mountain town with a
population of about 700 (per the Census Bureau) located 35 miles
west of Denver.
Annie’s started as a convenience store and began selling
marijuana to patients with doctor’s recommendations a few years
ago. It is currently owned by Strainwise, a chain that includes
seven other dispensaries in Denver, Idaho Springs, and Wheat Ridge.
Three of the company’s five outlets in Denver also have been
approved to sell marijuana for recreational use, but Annie’s got
its license first. 

All of the new pot shops will initially be medical marijuana
centers crossing over into the recreational market. State law gives
them a three-month head start in the licensing process, and local
ordinances give them additional protection from competition. For
example, Denver, home to more dispensaries than the rest of the
state combined, is
blocking new entrants until February 1, 2016. The dispensaries
would have had an advantage in any case, since their grow
operations are already up and running. They are required to grow at
least 70 percent of what they sell, a rule the state legislature
has extended until next fall. Although growing marijuana for
recreational sales will not be officially allowed until January 1,
there should be enough leeway in the medical system for pot stores
to start serving the general public at that point, without having
to wait several months for a new harvest. A dispensary is allowed
to grow up to six plants for each patient who designates it as his
primary provider, meaning dispensaries can grow substantially more
than their current customers are buying, as demonstrated by the
fact that they are allowed to sell up to 30 percent of their
marijuana to other outlets. That surplus will have to tide the new
stores over until next spring.

Addendum: A reader
wonders: Will Annie’s, given its history as a grocery store,
sell snacks along with marijuana products? That sounds like a
natural combination, but it is forbidden
by Colorado’s pot shop regulations.

Westword
reports that Annie’s, a medical marijuana center in Central
City, Colorado, recently received the state’s very first
recreational pot license. It is also, as far as I know, the world’s
very first recreational pot license, since Colorado is the first
jurisdiction in history to officially and explicitly allow the sale
of cannabis for general consumption. It is ahead of Washington,
which
started accepting license applications on Monday. And although
the sale of marijuana by “coffee shops” has been tolerated in the
Netherlands since the 1970s, such transactions remain illegal
there. Prior to prohibition, cannabis was an ingredient in various
over-the-counter remedies, but they were ostensibly for medical
use, and there would have been no reason for a business selling
them to hold a marijuana-specific license. So unless
pre-prohibition China or India issued licenses to recreational pot
shops, I’d say this is the first. 

Central City,
the seat of Gilpin County, is a Rocky Mountain town with a
population of about 700 (per the Census Bureau) located 35 miles
west of Denver.
Annie’s started as a convenience store and began selling
marijuana to patients with doctor’s recommendations a few years
ago. It is currently owned by Strainwise, a chain that includes
seven other dispensaries in Denver, Idaho Springs, and Wheat Ridge.
Three of the company’s five outlets in Denver also have been
approved to sell marijuana for recreational use, but Annie’s got
its license first. 

All of the new pot shops will initially be medical marijuana
centers crossing over into the recreational market. State law gives
them a three-month head start in the licensing process, and local
ordinances give them additional protection from competition. For
example, Denver, home to more dispensaries than the rest of the
state combined, is
blocking new entrants until February 1, 2016. The dispensaries
would have had an advantage in any case, since their grow
operations are already up and running. They are required to grow at
least 70 percent of what they sell, a rule the state legislature
has extended until next fall. Although growing marijuana for
recreational sales will not be officially allowed until January 1,
there should be enough leeway in the medical system for pot stores
to start serving the general public at that point, without having
to wait several months for a new harvest. A dispensary is allowed
to grow up to six plants for each patient who designates it as his
primary provider, meaning dispensaries can grow substantially more
than their current customers are buying, as demonstrated by the
fact that they are allowed to sell up to 30 percent of their
marijuana to other outlets. That surplus will have to tide the new
stores over until next spring.

Addendum: A reader
wonders: Will Annie’s, given its history as a grocery store,
sell snacks along with marijuana products? That sounds like a
natural combination, but it is forbidden
by Colorado’s pot shop regulations.

In January 2011, when President Obama closed out
his State of the Union address with a double invocation of the
phrase, “we do big things,” it seemed more than plausible. It
seemed obviously true. During the previous two years, Congress had
passed, and Obama had signed, the biggest fiscal stimulus in
history, a far-reaching overhaul of financial sector regulation
that included the creation of a new federal agency, and a health
care law intended to reform the insurance market and bring the
nation closer than ever to universal coverage. Obama’s declaration
wasn’t so much a promise as a boast of progress already made; under
his watch, the federal government wasn’t merely going to do big
things—it had already done them. But nearly three years later,
writes Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman, the federal
government’s capacity for expansive action looks far more in
doubt.

View this article.

In January 2011, when President Obama closed out
his State of the Union address with a double invocation of the
phrase, “we do big things,” it seemed more than plausible. It
seemed obviously true. During the previous two years, Congress had
passed, and Obama had signed, the biggest fiscal stimulus in
history, a far-reaching overhaul of financial sector regulation
that included the creation of a new federal agency, and a health
care law intended to reform the insurance market and bring the
nation closer than ever to universal coverage. Obama’s declaration
wasn’t so much a promise as a boast of progress already made; under
his watch, the federal government wasn’t merely going to do big
things—it had already done them. But nearly three years later,
writes Reason Senior Editor Peter Suderman, the federal
government’s capacity for expansive action looks far more in
doubt.

View this article.

Norman Gurley, 30, is facing
drug-related charges in Lorian County, Ohio, despite the fact that
state troopers did not actually find any drugs in his
possession.

Ohio passed
a law in 2012 making it a felony to alter a vehicle to add a
secret compartment with the “intent” of using it to conceal drugs
for trafficking.

Gurley is the first actual person arrested under the law. WKYC
in Northeast Ohio covered the arrest, with no notable journalistic
skepticism
whatsoever:

They pulled over the driver for speeding, but then troopers
noticed several wires running to the back of the car.

Those wires then led them directly to a hidden compartment.

Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday state troopers made the arrest under
the law, which is meant to combat criminals who modify the inside
of their car, allowing them to store drugs or weapons inside secret
compartments, which can often only be accessed electronically.

They just noticed some wires, did they? Just while in the
process of handing Gurley a speeding ticket, they noticed the
wires?

They did not, however, find any drugs, which means they’re
arresting Gurley for the crime of an empty space:

Troopers arrested 30-year-old Norman Gurley, who didn’t even
have any drugs on him, but it didn’t matter, because in Ohio, just
driving a “trap” car is now a felony.

“Without the hidden compartment law, we would not have had any
charges on the suspect,” says Combs.

But because of this law, one more “trap car” is now off
Northeast Ohio roads.

“We apparently caught them between runs, so to speak, so this
takes away one tool they have in their illegal trade. The law does
help us and is on our side,” says Combs.

Combs’ claim is not challenged by the news station at all.

The law says it’s only a crime if the hidden compartment is
added with the “intent” to conceal drugs, but it also outlaws
anybody who has been convicted of felony aggravated drug
trafficking laws from operating any vehicle with hidden
compartments. The ACLU of Ohio warned
against the new legislation:

The ACLU of Ohio believes SB 305 is an unnecessary and
unproductive expansion of law. Drug trafficking is already
prohibited under Ohio law, so there is no use for shifting the
focus to the container. Further by focusing on the container
itself, this bill criminalizes a person with prior felony drug
trafficking convictions simply for driving a car with a hidden
compartment, regardless of whether or not drugs or even drug
residue are present.

Given this is the first arrest, you have to wonder how the
courts might view a law making it a felony to alter a person’s own
property for reasons that have nothing to do with actual public
safety. Maybe we’ll see.

As for the car itself, the Institute for Justice’s 2010
“Policing for Profit” report
calculated that law enforcement officials in the state have
collected more than $80 million in shared proceeds from asset
forfeiture funds. Oh, and the hidden compartment law exempts
vehicles being operated by law enforcement officers, so if state
troopers can come up with an excuse to use the ride they just
grabbed, they may be able to keep it for themselves.

(Hat tip to Reason commenter Warty)