This post is a remembrance of longtime cannabis policy activist Steve Fox from his colleagues at VS Strategies and Vicente Sederberg LLP. Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues, We are truly heartbroken to share news of the passing of our partner and dear friend Steve Fox. Steve served as managing partner of VS Strategies since co-founding it in 2013, and he was a leader at Vicente Sederberg LLP since its formation in 2010. We welcome the celebration of Steve’s life through the sharing of thoughts…

In what hopefully becomes a trend in other states, a Colorado court has overturned a marijuana conviction that occurred just after the passage of Amendment 64. Huffington Post reports: A state appeals court has overturned the marijuana conviction of a Colorado woman who was sentenced and convicted for marijuana possession just days after voters approved a measure legalizing recreational marijuana in the state almost three years ago -- retroactively applying the law to her case.  Citing a decision…

[caption id="attachment_8725" align="alignright" width="300"] Gov. John Hickenlooper[/caption] After fighting against the passage of Amendment 64 in Colorado and  publicly questioning the wisdom of voters in the years since his state made marijuana legal for adults, it appears the Gov. John Hickenlooper is finally realizing that regulating marijuana was a good idea. The Denver Post reports: And now this headline — “Colorado Gov.: Pot is ‘not as vexing as we thought it was going to be’ (video)” —…

Echoing results from last September, a new poll shows that an even greater percentage of Coloradans are happy with their marijuana laws. From Denver Post: More than 13 months after recreational pot sales first started in Colorado, residents of the state still support marijuana legalization by a definitive margin, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll released Tuesday. When asked, “Do you still support or oppose this law?” 58 percent of respondents said they support the pot-legalizing Amendment…

The state of Alaska stands to gain $23 million in annual tax revenues from a fully legal marijuana market, according to a report released this week by the Marijuana Policy Group — a research organization that does not take a stance on issues associated with making marijuana legal. The report estimates that the total sales from a legal marijuana market would generate $56 million in 2016 and would climb to $107 million in 2020, if Alaska’s resident voters approve Measure 2 on the ballot next week. The…

Advocates of an effort to make marijuana legal for adults and regulated similarly to alcohol in Arizona in 2016 have filed paperwork with state elections officials, granting them permission to raise money to campaign for the citizen’s initiative, according to azcentral.com. The Marijuana Policy Project of Arizona initiative will be fashioned after the voter-approved taxed and regulated recreational marijuana program in Colorado. Andrew Myers, who is affiliated with the initiative, said Monday the…

Since Colorado voters approved Amendment 64 in 2012, and after the historic first sales of recreational marijuana began in January 2014, a majority of state residents still support legal marijuana sales. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="266"] NBC News/Marist Poll[/caption] According to the Huffington Post, a new NBC News/Marist Poll demonstrates that 55 percent of adult Colorado residents back the law that made the regulated use, possession, and sale of marijuana by adults legal, as opposed…

 Colorado could be sealing any past marijuana convictions that Amendment 64 would have rendered impotent. If Senate Bill 218 is passed, Coloradans could petition to have their previous marijuana-related convictions sealed if they would have not been crimes under current Colorado law. The bill has bipartisan support and was announced Tuesday, April 29. The proposed bill comes with only a few days left in the 2014 session, but its impact could be huge, possibly giving thousands of residents the right…

The New Hampshire House of Representatives took a major step forward today, voting 170-162 to approve a bill that would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for use by adults in the “Live Free or Die” state. Unfortunately, Gov. Maggie Hassan has already promised she will veto the bill if it reaches her desk. “I just think it's the wrong message to send to young people,” she explained. Based on Colorado’s Amendment 64, HB 492 would end New Hampshire’s failed prohibition of marijuana and replace it…

It's been exactly nine years since MPP provided me with a grant to move to Colorado and begin laying the groundwork for a future statewide ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. All of that work came to fruition yesterday when legal marijuana retail stores throughout the state opened their doors to begin selling marijuana to adults. I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures that I took of the first sale. This is Sean Azzariti, an Iraq war veteran with PTSD, who appeared in an Amendment 64 TV…