Legal marijuana has undeniably changed the social landscape in Colorado and, as more and more eyes are drawn to the nation’s newest industry, it’s rapidly changing the legal landscape.
Enter Sean McAllister, a Denver-based attorney and University of Colorado-Boulder graduate who’s been at the forefront of just about every major marijuana battle. He launched the drug-reform policy organization Sensible Colorado in 2004, nearly three years before the first round of personal caretakers began growing and selling marijuana to medical patients.
By late 2007, when dozens of medical dispensaries were popping up across the state (albeit on somewhat shaky legal grounds), McAllister was co-counsel for the marijuana movement’s landmark lawsuit, a case against the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment he describes as the moment when “the boundaries were really taken off medical marijuana.” He went on to consult state officials and eventually helped draft Amendment 64, the law that took boundaries off marijuana as a whole.
The rest is history in the making. McAllister continues to defend marijuana businesses and stakeholders from every corner of Colorado, although Summit County holds a special place in his practice: He splits time between Denver and Breckenridge, and helped craft the 2009 ballot initiative to legalize pot possession in Breck. Following two recent federal racketeering cases filed against the state and dispensary owners, including a prospective retail store and grow site in Frisco, attorneys like McAllister are nearly on par with pot barons themselves.
The Summit Daily News recently touched base with McAllister at his Denver firm for insight on the state of legal marijuana, the touchy topic of edibles and why federal decriminalization isn’t quite the industry’s only hope for survival.
Read Phil Lindeman’s interview: http://www.summitdaily.com/news/15159525-113/denver-marijuana-attorney-sean-mcallister-talks-edibles-the-med-and
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