COLORADO

Marijuana taxes net

$2 million in January

Colorado made about $2 million in marijuana taxes in January, state revenue officials reported Monday in the world’s first accounting of the recreational pot business.

The tax total reported by the state Revenue Department indicates that $14.02 million worth of recreational pot was sold. The state collected about $2.01 million in taxes.

Colorado legalized pot in 2012, but the commercial sale of marijuana didn’t begin until January. Sales in Washington state will begin in the coming months.

The pot taxes come from a 12.9 percent sales tax and a 15 percent excise tax. Voters approved the taxes last year. They said that the first $40 million of the excise tax must go toward school construction; the rest will be spent by state lawmakers.

— Associated Press

RELIGION

Methodist Church

drops marriage case

The United Methodist Church announced on Monday that it is dropping its case against a New York clergyman accused of defying church policy by officiating at his son’s same-sex wedding.

The church said a trial over the actions of the Rev. Thomas Ogletree, a former dean at Yale University’s divinity school, could cause “harmful polarization” during the ongoing debate about the church’s stance on same-sex unions.

The move came three months after a Pennsylvania pastor was defrocked after he was found guilty of officiating at his son’s same-sex wedding. Instead of facing trial, Ogletree will participate in conversations about the church’s policy on such unions.

— Reuters