Denver Needs to Tread Carefully on Marijuana Consumption

But while the measure takes effect immediately, it’s likely to be a while before you can enjoy that public puff-puff-pass.

CCC English major Maria Sanchez said people will use marijuana anyway so legalizing it is a good idea.

“People are already taking advantage of it”, Smith notes.

We hope the city takes a more careful approach than their brethren in the county, where pot stores were allowed to open despite public opposition and with little more than a rubber stamp from a specially hand-picked licensing board.

Proponents of the initiative say the plan protects individuals who do not want to be exposed to cannabis, while giving people who live in public housing or in residences where the landlords prohibit smoking safe havens to use cannabis socially. Still, there is reason to expect a somewhat smooth transition.

The BYO-bud law creates more opportunities for consumption and could increase tax revenue from tourists and locals alike. “For the most part, Prop. 64 overlays quite nicely on top of those regulations”.

Industry professionals on the showroom floor were all smiles today, a week after Nevada, California, Massachusetts and ME passed ballot measures allowing the recreational use of marijuana.

One fascinating aspect in an election cycle acutely defined by stark contrasts is the bipartisan nature of marijuana legislation.

Now that the count is finally completed and Denver voters have approved the social use of marijuana, here’s the question everyone’s asking: What happens next?

The streak continues for the Colorado cannabis industry. “It is entirely a different thing to ignore the tens of billions that the California cannabis industry will generate”, said Michael Weiner, a Denver lawyer who represents pot-related companies.

“We really need to be reasonable”. Close monitoring of tax compliance also costs the state money from its medical marijuana tax revenues, which are about to endure a lean year.

The share of the population with access to the purchase of cannabis for recreational purposes rises from more than 3% of the American population (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington) to nearly 19%. But if there were even a shred of social responsibility built into their business plan, they wouldn’t be selling kid-friendly, THC-laced sweets and sodas in the middle of the highest concentration of underage users in the country.

For more information on Denver policy, visit the city’s online Marijuana Information center. Vacationing smokers accounted for almost 17% of adult-use sales in the state, the Marijuana Business Daily reports.

For the moment, the only legal users of marijuana are the more than 108,000 individuals who have a doctor’s recommendation that they have a medical condition that would benefit by the use of the drug.

“It’s definitely not just a Left Coast issue anymore”, Smith concludes.

Being the country’s most populous state and the world’s sixth-largest economy, the decision could have the biggest impact on the national scene. But under Initiative 300, neighborhood organizations have the power to block cannabis consumption permits for businesses that sell alcohol or demand a policy that prevents BYOC customers from ordering drinks.