Earth Day, 4/20...and a hemp spa (or...just another day in Colorado).

We have just celebrated another fabulous week in Colorado, and what a rather eventful week it was for issues that we follow here at the RS & E Group.

First, members of the Group attended a very engaging and robust seminar held at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado regarding the current legal state of affairs surrounding marijuana. As more states move towards allowing their citizens to vote on legalizing either recreational or medicinal marijuana, a palpable tension remains since marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I Drug/Substance by the DEA on the federal level. Legal scholars, clinicians, scientists, and business professionals all provided valuable insight during this summit, and all of these experts definitely helped us gain a fuller understanding of the complexities that exist when talking about marijuana laws and policy. We hope to engage more fully within this community, as it has a direct correlation to many areas of practice within the Group. You can see the full line up of speakers and their areas of expertise, provided by the University of Denver, here.

Another well publicized event that was celebrated across the country this week was Earth Day, which took place on Friday, April 22nd. Although many municipalities and entities celebrated by addressing issues that are more closely aligned with traditional 'Earth Day' activities (recycling, zero-impact living, LEED certification of newly built structures, environmental stewardship, etc.), other businesses made headlines by touting the benefits of one plant in particular....hemp. The city of Longmont, Colorado recently welcomed a hemp spa into their business community, and this spa is offering a number of products and services that highlight the well publicized but still somewhat mysterious plant. Keep in mind that hemp is not the same as marijuana, with hemp being the less controversial cousin of the two. Hemp has, however, been utilized over the past several years for a number of things, and this new enterprise hopes to expand these products to a whole new audience. A very engaging article written by the Boulder Daily Camera on this business can be seen here.

Although one may think that cannabis and earth day have zero in common, it is clear that this mindset is changing among a number of people. These changes will most definitely find their way into our communities, and it is our goal to start the discussion and show a different perspective when it comes to these issues.

Happy reading, everyone!

Until next time,

Your friends at the RS & E Group