Historic marijuana memo

It was a cannabis party at Studio 64 in Colorado Springs. For the first time in his life, KC Stark was celebrating a decision from the federal government.

“There’s a reason to celebrate. I think the Department of Justice has decided in its statements to allow Colorado and Washington to proceed with their constitutional rights,” Stark said.

A memo to all 94 U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country, the DOJ says as long as marijuana is kept away from kids, the black market and federal lands, they will not stand in the way of legalization in Colorado and Washington.

“It just adds another piece to the puzzle of legitimacy and really peace of mind for the industry moving forward with this,” said Jason Warf, the director of the Colorado Springs Medical Cannabis Council.

Warf believes that this memo could also get some local politicians off the fence when it comes to recreational marijuana.

“A lot of them are currently opting out to kind of see what plays out and one of the big concerns with that was to see what the federal government was going to do,” Warf said. “I think now that they’ve said what they’re going to do I think we’ll see a lot of cities do a 180.”

Manitou Springs Mayor Mark Snyder says his city put a moratorium on recreational sales for a reason.

“I think it’s really hard to make an informed decision when you’re lacking such an important piece of information,” Snyder said.

This memo though, he believes will help when city council votes later this year.

“If anything I think it’ll make it easier to make this difficult decision if the council decides to go forward,” Snyder said.

Snyder believes the vote on marijuana taxation this November should really clear the air for his city.

“A bigger factor for the council when we ultimately decide how we want to proceed forward,” Snyder said.