{"id":6945,"date":"2016-10-31T20:34:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T20:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2205683"},"modified":"2016-10-31T20:34:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T20:34:07","slug":"in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department\/","title":{"rendered":"In shake-up, Denver\u2019s marijuana policy director will take over Excise and Licenses department"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_2205762\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_third\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department\" alt=\"Denver marijuana policy adviser Ashley Kilroy.\" width=\"277\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/in-shake-up-denvers-marijuana-policy-director-will-take-over-excise-and-licenses-department 620w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/ashley-kilroy-e1477940245561.jpg?w=210&#038;crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px 210w\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Denver mayor&#8217;s office<\/p>\n<p>Denver marijuana policy adviser Ashley Kilroy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday announced a reshuffling that will merge his groundbreaking marijuana policy shop into the Department of Excise and Licenses, with Ashley Kilroy serving as director of both.<\/p>\n<p>The move elevates Kilroy, Hancock\u2019s marijuana policy adviser, to the mayor\u2019s cabinet, succeeding outgoing licensing executive director Stacie Loucks. It also places the Office of Marijuana Policy \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/10\/14\/denver-marijuana-ballot-measure-initiative-300\/\">created nearly three years ago<\/a> amid the legalization of recreational marijuana sales \u2014 in a permanent home as Denver gets comfortable with regulating\u00a0the world\u2019s largest recreational\u00a0marijuana market so far.<\/p>\n<p>Loucks, who has served as licensing director since early 2014, is stepping down Friday to spend more time with her family, including\u00a0young children, the mayor\u2019s office said. Kilroy starts in the expanded role next Monday.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Hancock said Kilroy \u201chas served this great city for a number of years in various capacities, most recently as our navigator in the uncharted waters of legal recreational marijuana. \u2026 Ashley has proven to be a steadfast, common-sense leader who builds partnerships and consensus. I\u2019m proud to elevate her skill set and talent to the whole of our city\u2019s business licensing processes.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"\/>\n<p>The marijuana policy office and licensing department have worked together closely to implement retail cannabis regulations since the sales authorized by Colorado\u2019s Amendment 64 began in January 2014.<\/p>\n<p>As of June, Denver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denvergov.org\/content\/denvergov\/en\/denver-marijuana-information\/statistics\/licensing-and-locations.html\">was home to hundreds<\/a> of recreational and medical marijuana stores, grow facilities, edibles manufacturers and labs at 460 distinct locations. Those included 136 shops offering both medical and retail sales, 64 standalone medical marijuana dispensaries and 13 standalone recreational stores.<\/p>\n<p>The city still <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/04\/25\/new-caps-on-denver-pot-shops-grow-houses-pass-on-close-council-vote\/\">is working out kinks in its regulations<\/a> and has faced criticism for the proliferation of marijuana businesses in low-income neighborhoods, owing largely to zoning issues.<\/p>\n<p>But Denver also has been seen as a path-breaking model by some, and last week the city hosted industry representatives and government officials from around the world at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/10\/25\/colorado-marijuana-mentor-states-international-legalization\/65868\/\">its second annual Marijuana Management Symposium<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kilroy has held several jobs in Denver city government, including work in the city attorney\u2019s office, on the Career Service Board and as both deputy and interim manager of the Department of Safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look forward to building upon the great work that is occurring at Excise and Licenses to better serve our residents and businesses,\u201d Kilroy said in Monday\u2019s\u00a0news release about the latest changes.<\/p>\n<p>Loucks, while working with Kilroy on marijuana licensing, is credited with <a href=\"https:\/\/denpeakacademy.com\/2016\/03\/16\/reducing-wait-times-at-the-department-of-excise-and-licenses\/\">changes that cut waits at the licensing counter significantly<\/a> for all license-seekers and for starting implementation of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/07\/02\/denver-starts-licensing-short-term-rentals\/\">the city\u2019s new short-term rental regulations<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday announced a reshuffling that will merge his groundbreaking marijuana policy shop into the Department of Excise and Licenses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,6847,6813,6848,77,5667,9,6849,5019,441,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6816,6850,6818,6851,2655,5673,6852,5022,3015],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}