*By Jacqueline Corba*
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper defended his decision to veto three marijuana bills despite widespread momentum for legalization in a state that already has some of the most liberal cannabis laws in the country.
"I think its prudent for the entire industry to move steadily, but slowly and make sure this is a success," Hickenlooper said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar's CannaBiz.
The governor said he blocked a bill to legalize tasting rooms in his state out of concern that it could lead to more people driving while high. He also vetoed a bill adding autism to the list of eligible conditions for medical pot and one that would allow publicly traded companies to invest in Colorado pot businesses.
His vetoes angered some state lawmakers and marijuana activists who see Colorado's cannabis laws as a way to move the issue of national legalization forward.
["This is just a travesty,"] (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/07/marijuana-industry-blasts-hickenlooper/) said state Rep. Edie Hooton, a Democrat from Boulder who was a prime sponsor of the autism bill.
But Hickenlooper stood by his cautious approach.
"We haven't done studies of what high THC marijuana does to young people, and any other pharmaceuticalー any other drug people have studied and looked at its effect," said Hickenlooper. "We felt we needed to have a little more testing."
This week, mayors from six cities where marijuana is legal formed a coalition calling for national reform of marijuana laws.
In a [tweet] (https://twitter.com/MayorHancock/status/1006195461852545025), Denver's Mayor Michael Hancock wrote, "Mayors are the ones implementing legal marijuana. We know what works and what doesn't."
Hickenlooper seemed to agree. "I think this great social experiment is happening on the local level," he said. "If states are the laboratories of democracy, then in a powerful way that experiment takes place in all kinds of cities, and towns, and counties."
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/governor-hickenlooper-defends-decision-to-veto-marijuana-bills).
Catching you up on the stories you need to know this morning, mass shooting victims testify on Capitol Hill, the White House outlines its plan to vaccinate kids younger than five years old, and we break down how to protect yourself from monkeypox.
The pharmaceutical giant Moderna says its updated 'bivalent' booster shot provides a stronger immune response against the Omicron variant of COVID-19 specifically. This week, Moderna plans to submit preliminary data to U.S. health officials in the hopes that its new booster will be available later this summer. Dr. Sampson Davis, emergency medicine physician, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
NASA has announced that the first official full-color images will be beamed back to Earth from the James Webb Telescope on July 12. Gregory L. Robinson, the director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program in the NASA Science Mission Directorate, joined Cheddar News to discuss the anticipated image drop. “We expect to see the universe different," he said. "Webb will allow us to see much, much clearer and deeper into the universe."
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals, Professor Laurence Hurst, Director of The Milner Centre for Evolution, discusses the mystery of human evolution that's still baffling scientists: why are humans still evolving, and why has the process sped up? Neville Sanjana, faculty member at NY Genome and New York University, breaks down the latest innovations in CRISPR genetic engineering and its applications from 'designer babies' to curing genetic conditions and diseases; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Butterfly Effect.'
Neville Sanjana, faculty member at NY Genome and New York University, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down the latest innovations in CRISPR genetic engineering and its applications from 'designer babies' to curing genetic conditions and diseases.
Professor Laurence Hurst, Director of The Milner Centre for Evolution, joins Cheddar Reveals to discuss the mystery of human evolution that's still baffling scientists: why are humans still evolving, and why has the process sped up?
It can be tough to make sustainable choices, and even harder when sustainable materials don't hold up. Loliware has a solution to the plastic straw problem: its seaweed-based straws are stronger than paper alternatives and once used, can be composted and return to the earth or sea without causing harm. Sea Briganti, CEO of Loliware, joins Closing Bell to discuss the tech behind the straws, new product launches, and more.
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
After learning that the suspect in the Uvalde school shooting posted about his intentions on Facebook, activists are urging social networks to make changes. Lena Derhally, a licensed psychotherapist and author of "The Facebook Narcissist," joined Cheddar News to discuss the role social media plays in school shootings. "They're not really invested in taking down hateful content," she said about social platforms."In regards to the shooting, it was 15 minutes before that actual threat. It would be pretty hard for a social media company to trace that threat that quickly. But what they can do better is take down threats and hateful content much faster and more than they're doing now."
Esper Bionics CEO Dima Gazda breaks down how they're creating a mind-controlled bionic hand that guest smarter the more you use it, and what this innovation means for the future of the prosthetics industry.
