Coming Soon: Marijuana Coffee Shops in Denver

The stepping stones to implementing Initiative 300, Denver’s public marijuana consumption law, are underway. A group of marijuana supporters, business owners and city marijuana regulators met Wednesday to begin making regulatory suggestions. Public use will be permitted at approved art galleries, coffee shops, yoga studios, and other types of businesses.

Initiative 300 barely passed in November, according to The Denver Post. The public, or social, marijuana use initiative requires an approved business to have a separate outdoor consumption area for adults ages 21 and older. Businesses that currently have liquor licenses may not obtain a social use license, by decree of the Colorado Liquor Control Board.

Denver has no deadline to put regulations in place or to begin accepting license applications. The rules that are adopted must also be accepted by the neighborhoods that the businesses are located in.

Emmett Reistroffer recently held an educational event regarding Initiative 300. He said, “There are plenty of places in Denver where you can find neighbors who want this kind of establishment.”

Opponents of social use, like Rachel O’Bryan, stress their – generally senseless – concerns to the public consumption law. O’Bryan said, “If you are neither serving nor counting the potency of the product, nor counting how much they consume, how are you protecting the public when they leave your property?”

A bill to extend social use marijuana clubs statewide is pending in the state legislative process.