Sweet Leaf granted temporary reprieve from destroying its Denver cannabis

Sweet Leaf, which recently saw its 26 Denver marijuana licenses revoked, doesn’t have to destroy inventory in those facilities – at least not yet.

The company won a “stay of agency action” in Denver District Court on July 23 while it fights the city’s decision.

“Until the legal process is complete, there will be no action by Denver to verify the marijuana is destroyed,” Eric Escudero, communications director of the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses, told Marijuana Business Daily.

The city earlier this month stripped Sweet Leaf’s licenses for allegedly engaging in a management-directed, illegal “looping” sales scheme that allowed customers to buy cannabis multiple times a day.

Sweet Leaf co-owner and CEO Matthew Aiken wrote in an email last week that the company maintained its innocence and would “rigorously exhaust every option of appeal.”

He characterized Denver as using “Stalinist tactics.”

Sweet Leaf, once one of Colorado’s largest marijuana retailers, has several stores outside Denver that remain open, including one in Portland, Oregon.