The Bitcoin solution for ganjapreneurs, Jeff Sessions writes op-ed on drug policy, Massachusetts tax plans, working around Colorado ski town's weed ban, no-bake summer treats & more

June 19: The Bitcoin solution for ganjapreneurs, Jeff Sessions writes op-ed on drug policy, Massachusetts tax plans, working around Colorado ski town's weed ban, no-bake summer treats & more Cannabist]( [thecannabist.co]( | [@cannabist]( | [fb/cannabist]( If someone forwarded this to you and you'd like to sign up yourself, just go here: [(. To view this on the web or share a link, [click here.]( [Ganjapreneurs look to Bitcoin as big banks reject their money]( The inability to access traditional financial institutions is one of the marijuana industry's biggest impediments, with big banks and credit-card companies steering clear of legal weed businesses. Enter bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that consists of digital coins "mined" by computers solving increasingly complex math problems. At least two financial-technology startups, POSaBIT and SinglePoint Inc., use the cryptocurrency as an intermediate step that lets customers use their bank-issued credit cards to buy weed. [Sessions: Softened approach to drug enforcement led to surge in drug abuse and violent crime]( AG Jeff Sessions' op-ed in The Washington Post: Within one year after the Justice Department softened its approach to drug offenders (in 2013), the trend of decreasing violent crime reversed. In 2015, the United States suffered the largest single-year increase in the overall violent crime rate since 1991. ... The law demands I protect the lives of victims that are ruined by drug trafficking and violent crime infecting their communities. Our new, time-tested policy empowers police and prosecutors to save lives. ["People are desperate": Parents, doctors place epileptic children in trials to get FDA approval of medical marijuana]( "My advice to parents ... is that you have to think of it as you're doing your own clinical trial on your child," one doctor said. "We don't know what the outcome is going to be, we don't know if they're going to respond, we don't know what the side effects are. But there are some families who feel that risk is acceptable compared to what is going on in the child's life medically at the current time." Quote of the Day “On taxes, local control and social justice, the Senate gets it right. The House bill, even with its most egregious flaws addressed, adopts a hostile approach.” —Jim Borghesani, spokesman for Yes on 4, the group that sponsored Massachusetts' recreational ballot measure. [The Senate and House have proposed vastly different plans]( for taxing recreational weed and local control. Regional News [Pot shop finds a way around a Colorado ski town's weed sales ban]( Around this time last year, Colorado cannabis entrepreneur Dan Volpe was hunting for a new marijuana shop location in the Fraser Valley when he discovered the Valley Hi Motel, at the entrance to Winter Park, had been left out of a 1978 town survey. This meant the motel was a county island and exempt from Winter Park’s 2010 ban on medical marijuana and 2013 ban on recreational sales. But Volpe's way in came with a protracted legal fight between town officials and Grand County commissioners that took months to sort out. [Hemp producers in North Dakota holding back amid CBD controversy]( As North Dakota’s hemp industry grows, legal questions have kept producers from making one of the crop’s most desirable products. Bottles of cannabidiol were recently seized from in Watford City and Bismarck stores, where the owner faces felony charges for selling it, The Bismarck Tribune reported. More Regional Headlines + [Down to the wire: July 1 launch of Nevada's recreational pot sales hangs in the balance]( + [Arkansas just opened door to get into state’s brand-new marijuana industry]( + [What Florida medical marijuana will look like under proposed rules]( #AllThingsWeed [Recipe: Take it easy and make these no-bake Stoner Chocolate Balls]( Cooking up edibles at home is fun, but sometimes it's nice to get baked without doing any baking or firing up the stove. Check out this summertime recipe from our archives. --------------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up at The Denver Post. Please add "members@mail.denverpost.com" and "members@direct.denverpost.com" to your trusted senders list. To unsubscribe from this mailing, [click here.]( To change your e-mail preferences, [click here](. To view this newsletter on the web [click here.]( The Denver Post 101 West Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80202