{"id":8876,"date":"2019-12-27T13:21:58","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=3813259"},"modified":"2019-12-27T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:21:58","slug":"starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting Jan. 1, Coloradans will have more options for consuming cannabis in public. But will we catch up to California?"},"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\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"ss-inline-share-wrapper ss-hover-animation-fade ss-with-counter-border ss-inline-total-counter-left ss-stretched-inline-content ss-large-icons ss-rectangle-icons ss-without-labels\">\n<div class=\"ss-inline-share-content\"> <!-- Total share counter --> <\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"ss-total-counter ss-total-shares ss-share-inline_content-total-shares\" data-ss-ss-post-id=\"229247\"> <span>845<\/span> <span>Shares<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END .ss-inline-share-content --> <\/div>\n<p><!-- END .ss-inline-share-wrapper --> <\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230652\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A client lights a joint for his friend while they smoke and relax at the Tetra Private Lounge and Garden in Denver on December 1, 2019. The lounge allows open smoking and consumption of cannabis, vaporizing and dabbing.(Photo by Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>From eye-level, Tetra Lounge\u00a0looks like an upscale coffee shop rolled into a nightclub.<\/p>\n<p>Brick walls, painted white, box in DJ booths and a bar, while attractive glass cases and furniture dot the 2,000-square-foot space at 3039 Walnut St. in the River North Art District.<\/p>\n<p>But look down and you\u2019re suddenly in a weed dealer\u2019s apartment from the black-market era of cannabis: plush but worn couches, video game controllers, scattered bits of bright-green leaves, and a friendly, roaming Rottweiler named Kena<b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That feeling is intentional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe vibe is supposed to be more like your initial cannabis interaction, where the first time you smoked weed was in your friend\u2019s basement or garage,\u201d said owner Dewayne Benjamin, who opened Tetra in February 2018. \u201cBut it\u2019s obviously more social than that, and very safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In that way, Tetra is a synthesis of old and new pot culture, combining the bong rips and couch-locked diversions of old with the chic, discerning and proudly public persona of contemporary cannabis. Tetra sidesteps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2013\/12\/19\/colorado-venues-balance-pot-friendly-attitudes-with-legal-reality\/\">2006\u2019s Colorado Indoor Clean Air Act<\/a>, which banned smoking in most public, indoor spaces, by acting as a private club that sells daily memberships for $20 a pop (or $60 per month).<\/p>\n<p>Benjamin said he\u2019s sold about 12,000 memberships since Tetra first opened nearly two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIts 70% tourists with one-day and three-day memberships, and 30% regular monthly\u00a0members,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230650\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Izzy Arellano, general manager, left, and Owner Dewayne Benjamin, right, work in the Tetra Private Lounge and Garden in Denver on November 27, 2019. The lounge is set up as a private club and charges a membership of $20 per person, though price can depend on chosen amenities. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But even as Benjamin looks to his next experiment \u2014 a tea house-style partnership with The Joint dispensary, in which a purchase at The Joint covers Tetra\u2019s membership fee \u2014 the laws that govern social cannabis use are about to change again.<\/p>\n<p>Starting on Jan. 1,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb19-1230\">House Bill 1230<\/a>\u00a0will allow two entirely new types of businesses in Colorado: tasting rooms that can sell cannabis flower and cannabis products, and \u201cmarijuana hospitality establishments,\u201d which can\u2019t sell cannabis on-site but allow full use of the plant (including on tour buses).<\/p>\n<p>Officials in Denver and other cities have not yet declared overarching stances on the issue, but the laws are likely to encourage a new green rush \u2014 once businesses meet certain standards.<\/p>\n<p>The flipside of allowing anyone to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/a\/state.co.us\/file\/d\/1elp1bpu7Jz7yusFvhA6kbC5icRYwzqkK\/view?usp=drivesdk\">apply for a license<\/a>\u00a0is that the state has granted ample discretion to individual municipalities, allowing them to decide where and how these new businesses operate, if at all. Application fees range from $1,000\u00a0for a hospitality business to $5,000\u00a0for a retail hospitality and sales operation. Once granted, operators are barred from holding a liquor license for the same business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a rich history of home rule in Colorado, and this legislation is no different,\u201d said Shannon Gray, spokeswoman for Colorado\u2019s Marijuana Enforcement Division. \u201cIt\u2019s up to local jurisdictions to decide if they want this within their borders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new rules, signed into law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/05\/29\/marijuana-delivery-tasting-rooms-colorado\/\">by Gov. Jared Polis in May<\/a>, include\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leg.colorado.gov\/bills\/hb19-1234\">House Bill 1234<\/a>, which allows for commercial home delivery of cannabis. But the biggest deal is undoubtedly the consumption rules. Ever since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2013\/12\/31\/a-colorado-marijuana-guide-64-answers-to-commonly-asked-questions\/\">Amendment 64<\/a> legalized statewide retail sales, growth and possession of pot in 2014, residents and especially tourists have been forced to find creative ways to consume their weed in the absence of any legal, public option.<\/p>\n<p>Denver spots such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/08\/18\/denver-social-marijuana-use-program-struggling\/\">The Coffee Joint<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/02\/25\/social-marijuana-vape-play-denver-closed\/\">Vape and Play\u00a0<\/a>have allowed vaping and THC-edibles consumption on their property, but no smoking. Others have tried and failed, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/11\/19\/dean-ween-marijuana-concert-venue-denver\/\">Dean Ween\u2019s Honeypot Lounge<\/a>, which at one point promised a \u201cbongtender\u201d and various paraphernalia for use. The Ballpark-area location never got off the ground, and Ween (aka musician\u00a0Mickey Melchiondo Jr.) later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westword.com\/marijuana\/dean-ween-partners-with-vape-and-play-to-reopen-pot-consumption-venue-11275902\">partnered with Vape and Play<\/a> at a location that has since closed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the challenges with that is the profit model, because it\u2019s bring-your-own-cannabis, and not sales like the new hospitality bill will allow,\u201d said Eric Escudero, communications director for Denver\u2019s Department of Excise and Licenses, which will review pot-lounge applications. \u201cBut anything we do is not going to happen overnight. We have to go through the process first of considering social equity, and then any new law or marijuana expansion has to go through a public approval process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Coffee Joint,\u00a0Denver\u2019s first (and currently only) publicly licensed social marijuana-use business, submitted its application to the city on Dec. 20, owner Rita Tsalyuk said.\u00a0The Coffee Joint must reapply in order to keep operating under the new rules.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado residents can get high on their own property, of course. And long-running events such as Puff, Pass &amp; Paint, a \u201ccannabis-friendly art class,\u201d double as community smoking sessions. Cannabis cooking classes, party buses, dispensary tours, yoga and \u201c420-friendly\u201d hotels have also filled in the gaps over the past five years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs long as you\u2019re not selling (pot) and you\u2019re in a private residence, you\u2019re fine,\u201d Puff, Pass &amp; Paint founder\u00a0Heidi Keyes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/01\/20\/puff-pass-paint-canvas-cocktails-marijuana-crowd-interview\/2885\/\">told The Cannabist in 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But tourists have often defaulted to vaping or gobbling THC-laced edibles, since that doesn\u2019t produce the skunky smoke that serves as the dead-giveaway of smoking joints, bongs or bowls. That\u2019s led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2019\/03\/31\/colorados-marijuana-bills\/\">Colorado falling behind California<\/a> in social consumption laws \u2014 despite Colorado being hailed internationally for pioneering recreational cannabis in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s especially apparent as dozens of other states have jumped into the legal weed game after us \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/marijuana\/illinois\/ct-biz-cb-marijuana-dispensaries-20191210-txyk4274pnbf5lmtclzdhy4gqe-story.html\">Illinois begins recreational sales on Jan. 1<\/a>, and in Michigan, consumers lined up at pot shops on Dec. 1, the day recreational sales became legal there.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230655\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clients watch television as they smoke pot and relax on the couches at the Tetra Private Lounge and Garden in Denver on December 1, 2019. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>West Hollywood, Calif.\u2019s Lowell Cafe, which opened in October, bills itself as the country\u2019s first cannabis-friendly restaurant. However, due to current laws there, Lowell Cafe\u2019s owners had to find a creative workaround, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-features\/lowell-cannabis-cafe-legal-california-weed-895837\/\">as Rolling Stone called it<\/a>, since laws don\u2019t allow licensees to sell food or drinks on-site at a cannabis retail business.<\/p>\n<p>Lowell\u2019s answer was to separate the cafe into three sections, Rolling Stone reported: \u201ca street-facing area where diners can\u2019t consume cannabis, but can order food and non-alcoholic drinks, and an indoor lounge and outdoor garden that allow cannabis smoking, vaping and edible consumption.\u201d Food and drinks are made in a kitchen that\u2019s considered a separate business, which allows people in the smoking section to order food from the adjacent restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>So if Colorado beat California in the legal-weed game by a couple of years (California\u2019s recreational laws took effect in 2016), what\u2019s stopping Colorado from seeing similar concepts?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not for lack of interest on the entrepreneurial side,\u201d said Jeremy Jacobs, whose Kentucky-based company, Enlighten, supplies digital menus and in-house ads for 1,200\u00a0dispensaries nationwide, including 100\u00a0in Colorado. \u201cPeople have tried to open coffee shops and consumption lounges only to get raided a week later. It\u2019s your authorities that have caused this issue, singlehandedly. There\u2019s no one else to blame.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of Jacobs\u2019 solutions is the Cannabus, which he debuted this month at MJBizCon in Las Vegas. The upscale coach sells cannabis in the front and offers a smoking lounge in the back. Jacobs wants to take it on a multi-state tour \u2014 including to the steps of Colorado\u2019s state capitol \u2014 to show legislators that cannabis businesses can be as friendly, safe and lucrative as craft breweries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost lounges aren\u2019t some dark and dungeon-y place with black lights and Hendrix posters,\u201d said Jacobs, who closed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/cannabis-tech-giant-announces-close-of-series-b-round-of-funding-to-expand-footprint-300865561.html\">$6.5 million round of funding<\/a>\u00a0for Enlighten\u2019s digital network in June. \u201cIn fact, I would argue cannabis is building some of the better retail establishments, period, because they have much better concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barbershops, fitness centers, music venues, VR arcades, yoga studios and other hybrid-cannabis businesses could flourish under the new consumption rules, Tetra\u2019s Benjamin said, provided they follow the enshrined, 21-and-up rules of Amendment 64.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince we\u2019ve opened, we haven\u2019t had any public safety issues \u2014 like fights, violence, people passing out \u2014 and no contact with authorities,\u201d he said of Tetra Lounge.<\/p>\n<p>A Denver Post review of Denver Police Department service calls to Tetra\u2019s address since February 2018\u00a0found no criminal complaints related to the business. That\u2019s something Benjamin is proud of, and he cites it as proof of concept.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s on the consumer side,\u201d he said. \u201cBut on the business side, we\u2019ve been able to thrive because we offer a marketing platform for business-to-consumer interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Tetra, that takes the form of displays set up by various vendors and dispensaries to advertise their wares. The marketing partnership also encourages weed-friendly hotel concierges and budtenders at dispensaries to send people to Tetra as a safe alternative to consuming in their cars, hotel rooms or on the street.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-230651\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Izzy Arellano, general manager of the Tetra Private Lounge and Garden, smokes inside the club in Denver on November 27, 2019. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even with steep rent on his lounge \u2014 about $6,500<b> <\/b>per month \u2014 Benjamin has seen success with Tetra, he said. But he\u2019s excited to apply for a license to become a fully public hospitality business, since he\u2019s noticed a wide market for cannabis consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll see a 21-year-old black dude talking to an 80-year-old white lady for hours,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not one demographic that buys or enjoys cannabis. And as one of the few African-American cannabis company owners, I want it to be all-inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new laws may also lead to different types of consumption businesses that are only now being considered, said PJ Rinker, vice president of business development at Denver-based Cannabis One, which operates The Joint dispensaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe ultimately see someone like Dewayne (Benjamin) having the Jamba Juice of weed, where you can enjoy the full spectrum of the plant and consume more than just THC or CBD,\u201d Rinker said.<\/p>\n<p>Benjamin isn\u2019t worried about competition to Tetra when the hospitality laws take effect Jan. 1.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis industry is less than a decade old, and there\u2019s no going back,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will benefit all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And when it comes to bragging rights and reputation, Colorado still has a shot at reclaiming its No. 1 spot in the fast-moving world of legal cannabis, Enlighten founder Jacobs said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though California was easily positioned to take the cannabis crown, they\u2019ve done an excellent job of screwing that up recently with the extremely slow roll-out of their licenses,\u201d he said. \u201cColorado has a chance to say, \u2018Here\u2019s what the future looks like: it\u2019s like a much nicer bar scene, but nobody\u2019s getting DUIs or crashing cars.\u2019 That\u2019s the potential in this law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/newsletter-signup\/in-the-know\"><b><i>Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california.jpg\" class=\"ss-hidden-pin-image\" data-pin-url=\"https:\/\/theknow.denverpost.com\/2019\/12\/27\/denver-places-to-smoke-weed-public\/229247\/\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/starting-jan-1-coloradans-will-have-more-options-for-consuming-cannabis-in-public-but-will-we-catch-up-to-california.jpg\" data-pin-description=\"Starting Jan. 1, Coloradans will have more options for consuming cannabis in public. But will we catch up to California?\" \/> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ss-inline-share-wrapper ss-hover-animation-fade ss-with-counter-border ss-inline-total-counter-left ss-stretched-inline-content ss-large-icons ss-rectangle-icons ss-without-labels\">\n<div class=\"ss-inline-share-content\"> <!-- Total share counter --> <\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"ss-total-counter ss-total-shares ss-share-inline_content-total-shares\" data-ss-ss-post-id=\"229247\"> <span>845<\/span> <span>Shares<\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END .ss-inline-share-content --> <\/div>\n<p><!-- END .ss-inline-share-wrapper --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Starting on Jan. 1,\u00a0House Bill 1230\u00a0will allow two entirely new types of businesses in Colorado: tasting rooms that can sell cannabis flower and cannabis products, and &#8220;marijuana hospitality establishments,&#8221; which can&#8217;t sell cannabis on-site but allow full use of the plant (including on tour buses). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,330,7997,7347,6811,8220,854,6813,77,6815,5667,9,5019,8082,1,3,18,7969,61,1736],"tags":[2632,2908,7998,7348,6816,8221,3427,6818,2655,6820,5673,5022,8083,2622,7972],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8876"}],"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=8876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}