On Nov. 5, voters in nearly 80 cities and towns across Colorado voted on a combined total of more than 100 municipal tax issues and other questions. 

This edition of Colorado Municipalities focuses on public safety and public health with articles on what local policymakers are doing to protect the youth from nicotine addiction, the stabilizing cannabis industry, response to the opioid crisis, engaging the issue of homelessness, mental health, and more.

The ban is lifted and the race kicks off as farmers and businesses around the United States begin to grow hemp, America's newest cash crop. The swirl of excitement around the legalization of hemp has every layer of government asking what it can do to regulate the plant, ensuring the safe cultivation,  production, and, in the case of CBD, consumption. The September CML Knowledge Now white paper offers a municipal perspective on hemp regulation, with articles by CML staff attorney, Laurel Witt, and guest authors, Brian Koontz of Colorado Department of Agriculture, Jeff Lawrence of Colorado Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability, and Hunter Buffington of the Hemp Feed Coalition.