{"id":7265,"date":"2017-03-07T21:22:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T21:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2556472"},"modified":"2017-03-07T21:22:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T21:22:06","slug":"colorado-legislature-looks-to-address-the-wild-west-of-pot-clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-legislature-looks-to-address-the-wild-west-of-pot-clubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado legislature looks to address the \u201cwild west\u201d of pot clubs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-legislature-looks-to-address-the-wild-west-of-pot-clubs\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado nearly five years ago\u00a0opened a vast landscape of unknowns, and now the state is looking to settle one of the last frontiers.<\/p>\n<p>The General Assembly is advancing bipartisan legislation to make Colorado the first state to allow pot clubs \u2014 an issue once considered taboo but one the industry says is overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we are lacking as an industry and as consumers is a place to consume,\u201d said Jordan Person at Denver NORML, the local chapter of a national organization that favors legalization.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican-led state Senate is scheduled to hear a measure Wednesday that would give local governments the authority to allow private, membership-only clubs with indoor smoking and consumption of bring-your-own cannabis. It comes as Denver looks to implement <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/10\/14\/denver-marijuana-ballot-measure-initiative-300\/\">Initiative 300<\/a>, the voter-approved measure to allow marijuana consumption zones at private businesses that obtain permits.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado\u2019s move toward Amsterdam-like clubs once again puts the state under what Person calls the national \u201cmarijuana microscope.\u201d Other states that legalized weed are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/16\/colorado-warms-to-pot-clubs-despite-federal-uncertainty\/73742\/\">moving in the same direction<\/a>, but Colorado could finish first if lawmakers and Gov. John Hickenlooper reach a consensus on legislation.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/23\/sean-spicer-marijuana-medical-recreational-trump-administration\/74255\/\">recent signals toward a potential crackdown<\/a> on marijuana only complicate the conversation as lawmakers tiptoe on the issue, mindful that each additional step may cross the line and draw tougher enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>The effort is not without controversy in Colorado. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/27\/list-eye-2017-colorado-legislation-marijuana-hemp-bills\/73558\/\">Two bills<\/a>\u00a0on the topic split lawmakers and the cannabis industry this legislative session, generating lengthy hearings replete with unusual testimony about bong hits, munchies and marijuana-clouded yoga studios. One of those measures, which would have allowed clubs to sell their own weed, has died.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just very reflective of how much difficulty and disagreement there is across the state and in our individual communities about how to deal with it,\u201d said Sen. Bob Gardner, a Colorado Springs Republican who helped\u00a0craft the first recreational marijuana rules in 2013 before retail sales began in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>The political will to establish further rules for cannabis consumption\u00a0shifted this year after Colorado lawmakers, even those who opposed legalization, became increasingly frustrated with the skunky clouds of pot smoke in public places, such as parks and bus stops.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a problem we\u2019ve got to address,\u201d Senate Republican leader Chris Holbert\u00a0said\u00a0early in the session.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<h3>Sticking point<\/h3>\n<p>As part of the issue, the industry and lawmakers are seeking to define what Amendment 64, which legalized recreational put sales and use but prohibited \u201copenly and publicly\u201d consuming marijuana, means in practice.<\/p>\n<p>That phrase has bedeviled lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s one of the things we were totally unable to do,\u201d said Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/sb17-184\">Senate Bill 184<\/a> would define \u201copen and public\u201d this way: Marijuana consumption is not allowed in a place easily viewable from outside its perimeter and where \u201ca substantial number of the public\u201d has access without restriction.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s broader and more permissive than the definition already set in ordinance by some local governments, including Denver, which allows use only on private property \u2014 notwithstanding\u00a0the new exemption for permits it will issue to businesses under Initiative 300. Local governments still will retain the right to be more restrictive under the Senate bill.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of defining the major elements of Amendment 64, \u201cI think this actually would be the last piece that needs to be done,\u201d said Kevin Bommer, the deputy director of the Colorado Municipal League who helped draft the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Under the legislation, pot clubs would not be able to sell marijuana, alcohol or food on the premises \u2014 members would bring their own \u2014 and local officials who permit the establishments could impose tighter restrictions.\u00a0The first establishments could open as soon as early August, depending on how quickly municipalities and counties act.<\/p>\n<p>A competing measure, <a href=\"http:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/sb17-063\">Senate Bill 63<\/a>, would have allowed local governments to license pot clubs that are open to the public and sell marijuana, akin to a bar that serves alcohol. But it failed in a Senate committee because of concerns it went a step too far.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, as many as 30 pot clubs are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2016\/06\/07\/englewood-bans-social-pot-clubs\/\">operating in Colorado<\/a>, according to <a href=\"http:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/2017A\/bills\/fn\/2017A_SB184_00.pdf\">a legislative analysis<\/a>. State law neither explicitly permits nor forbids them.<\/p>\n<p>The proponents of Amendment 64 argue the constitutional provision created the opening for clubs and dispute the notion that local governments can ban them, as the Senate bill allows.<\/p>\n<p>Rob Corry, a <a href=\"http:\/\/robcorry.com\/\">marijuana law attorney<\/a> who represents existing Colorado clubs, supported the bill that regulated and licensed pot clubs. But he argues the measure moving forward represents \u201ca prohibition mentality that voters wanted to jettison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that people in the middle for whatever reason are OK with the for-profit sale of packaged marijuana \u2026 and maybe it\u2019s a leap for some people,\u201d he said, \u201cto get their heads around this concept that, yes, adults do like to get together and use it together in places other than our homes, like alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Denver\u2019s Initiative 300<\/h3>\n<p>Denver is closely monitoring how the bill would impact the city\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/19\/denver-public-pot-use-law-answered\/71736\/\">new Initiative 300<\/a>, which will allow some businesses to create marijuana consumption areas later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Ashley Kilroy, the city\u2019s licensing director and the mayor\u2019s marijuana policy director, said the bill wouldn\u2019t pre-empt the local measure as currently written.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere has long been a need for the state to clarify the legal status of so-called private marijuana clubs, so we\u2019re glad the legislature is tackling the issue, and doing so in a way that respects local control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/18\/public-marijuana-use-denver-first\/71623\/\">The new ordinance<\/a>, approved by nearly 54 percent of voters in November, takes a different tack from allowing private clubs. Its backers hoped instead to make social marijuana use more mainstream by requiring the city to issue permits to allow cannabis consumption zones in a broad array of businesses \u2014 but only if the businesses that apply have received backing from a local neighborhood or business group.<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana shops, bars and restaurants that serve liquor can\u2019t participate in Denver\u2019s budding program because of state laws and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/11\/21\/denver-social-pot-use\/67990\/\">regulations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel O\u2019Bryan, who led the anti-Initiative 300 campaign, wanted the legislature to put a crimp on Denver\u2019s new effort by placing a more restrictive definition of \u201copen and public use\u201d in state law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I have seen is a lot of confusion around this bill,\u201d O\u2019Bryan said.<\/p>\n<p>To her, the proposed definition is troubling because businesses only would need to obstruct the view from outside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyplace you close a door, you can have social consumption,\u201d O\u2019Bryan said.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Bryan is concerned about allowing private clubs because the bill would let members bring in their own marijuana, unchecked. Other aspects pose safety and liability issues, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Gardner, the Senate bill sponsor, still has concerns about marijuana, too. He says there are \u201csocial costs and implications that we\u2019ll never be able to grapple with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the bill, he said, is the first step toward a better system than the \u201cwild west\u201d pot clubs in Colorado now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado nearly five years ago opened a vast landscape of unknowns, and now the state is looking to settle one of the last frontiers &#8212; pot clubs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6811,6857,6813,77,5577,6815,6886,9,5019,441,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[6816,6859,6818,2655,5580,6820,6889,5022,3015],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}