Nine cannabis clubs ordered to 'cease and desist'

Nine Colorado Springs cannabis consumption clubs received cease-and-desist letters from the City Clerk's Office last week in the first crackdown under a ban on the clubs enacted by the City Council on March 22.

The clubs sprang up after Amendment 64 was passed in 2012 legalizing adult use and sales of recreational marijuana but banning public consumption. The clubs gave people a place to use cannabis and socialize in private.

Colorado Springs outlawed sales of recreational marijuana in the city, but the clubs got around the sales ban by providing pot to their patrons on a "reimbursement model:" they could either "trade" cannabis for memberships or sign affidavits saying the club was growing the customer's legally allowed six marijuana plants for them.

Although city officials view such actions as de facto sales, the practice has continued. The ban passed in March, however, says the clubs cannot sell, trade, give, distribute or allow the transfer of marijuana.

Read more: http://gazette.com/nine-cannabis-clubs-ordered-to-cease-and-desist/article/1585877