{"id":7385,"date":"2017-05-03T22:20:40","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T22:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2637027"},"modified":"2017-05-03T22:20:40","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T22:20:40","slug":"colorado-lawmakers-remain-divided-on-whether-you-can-smoke-marijuana-on-your-front-porch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-lawmakers-remain-divided-on-whether-you-can-smoke-marijuana-on-your-front-porch\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lawmakers remain divided on whether you can smoke marijuana on your front porch"},"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-lawmakers-remain-divided-on-whether-you-can-smoke-marijuana-on-your-front-porch\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The question of\u00a0where you can consume cannabis\u00a0in Colorado continues to stress lawmakers, even as the state approaches five years of legalization.<\/p>\n<p>The state Senate and House approved different versions of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/07\/colorado-legislature-looks-to-address-the-wild-west-of-pot-clubs\/75139\/\">measure to define the prohibition on \u201copen and public\u201d consumption<\/a>, and a panel of lawmakers failed Wednesday to strike a compromise just days before the legislative session concludes.<\/p>\n<p>The sticking point is whether you can smoke marijuana on a front porch in public view \u2014 one of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2013\/12\/02\/denver-council-flips-vote-on-pot-smoking-in-front-yards\/\">most enduring debates<\/a> since legalization in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWelcome to the jungle,\u201d quipped Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat and one of the negotiators. \u201cThis has been an issue that we have discussed and debated since the inception of Amendment 64.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Senate Bill 184 would forbid\u00a0marijuana consumption in any place where \u201ca substantial number of the public\u201d has access without restriction, such as a park or sidewalk. The latest version debated Wednesday took it a step further to prohibit consumption in \u201ca place not protected from unaided observation lawfully made from outside its perimeter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two House Democratic lawmakers expressed worry about banning pot on front porches, but state Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, suggested such protections are needed in certain areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy concern continues to be that in urban and suburban areas property lines are so close that children walking up and down sidewalks that are not 15 feet from (a home),\u201d he said. \u201cAnd frankly it is a crime in Colorado to do a lot of things on your front porch, no matter how much you own that property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Lois Court, a Denver Democrat, said she supported the language. \u201cI\u2019m a child of the 60s so I am familiar with contact highs,\u201d she joked, before turning serious: \u201cBut that leads to the impact on kids and I\u2019m really concerned about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pabon and Rep. Mike Foote, a Lafayette Democrat and prosecutor, voted against the compromise version and blocked it from moving forward. Both sides pledged to keep working on the issue, but it remains unclear whether they can reach agreement before adjournment May 10.<\/p>\n<p>Without the bill, the role of defining \u201copen and public\u201d will remain with local governments, said Kevin Bommer, deputy director of the Colorado Municipal League. But he wants to see a statewide definition. \u201cThis is something we\u2019d like the General Assembly to address,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Judd Golden, an attorney representing NORML, an organization that supports marijuana legalization, said property rights trump in this situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a constitutional right here \u2014 we absolutely have private property rights and those should prevail over the possibility that someone might be offended\u201d by marijuana, he said.<\/p>\n<p>An earlier version of the legislation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2017\/03\/07\/colorado-pot-clubs\/\">allowed local governments to regulate pot clubs<\/a>, but that provision was stripped from the bill after facing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/08\/colorado-marijuana-bills-governor-john-hickenlooper-pot-clubs-trump-administration\/75238\/\">opposition from Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The question about where you can consume marijuana in Colorado continues to stress lawmakers, even as the state approaches five years of legalization. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7103,6907,6811,7104,7105,2097,6813,6848,7106,77,6815,5667,6886,9,7107,5019,441,6228,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[7108,6909,6816,7109,7110,4665,6818,6851,7111,2655,6820,5673,6889,7112,5022,3015,6235],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385"}],"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=7385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}