Starting today, January 1, 2014, marijuana for recreational use has become legal in the state of Colorado.

Do you think recreational marijuana should be legal in your state or province?

Please vote in the poll, then discuss.

On a related issue, would you have a relationship with someone who smoked pot on a daily basis?

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Denver Post - Wednesday, January 1, 2014

World's first legal recreational marijuana sales begin in Colorado

By John Ingold




Colorado's ambitious experiment in cannabis policy hit a historic milestone Wednesday, when licensed stores began making the first legal sales of recreational marijuana anywhere in the world.

A few people queued up outside pot shops early Wednesday to celebrate and claim bragging rights, but longer lines began forming later in the morning — growing from a couple of dozen to hundreds at some stores. Police reported no problems.

Within hours, the hand of the free market was already evident. In the face of strong demand, one shop raised its price for an eighth of an ounce from $25 to $45.

Chrissy and Logan Robinson trekked from downtown Denver to Evergreen Apothecary after ringing in the new year. They arrived at 2 a.m. to be the first in line.

"I've been waiting 34 years for this moment," Chrissy said. "I've been smoking since I was 14. No more sneaking around."

A t least 37 stores across the state were fully licensed and opened to sell marijuana to anyone 21 or over for any purpose, according to official lists and Denver Post research. Sales began at 8 a.m., and activists — who passed the marijuana-legalization measure in November 2012 that made the sales possible — arranged a ceremonial "first purchase" at the stroke of 8 at the Denver store 3D Cannabis.

The customer was Sean Azzariti, an Iraq War veteran from Denver who was featured in pro-legalization campaign ads in which he said he hoped to use marijuana to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder. The cost of the ceremonial first sale was $59.74.

These words opened the first recreational sales: "It's 8 a.m. I'm going to do it," said Toni Fox, the owner of 3D Cannabis.

One of the first in line at the shop, Brandon Harris from Ohio, said he drove 20 hours straight to be here and isn't going home.

"We're going to become residents," he said.

By a 3-to-1 margin, journalists inside 3D Cannabis outnumbered customers waiting outside before the shop opened.

"Today in Colorado, we shift marijuana from the underground market to the regulated market," said marijuana advocate Betty Aldworth.

"Prohibition has ended," said Michelle Wold, a Colorado resident and grandmother who said she wanted to be among the first in line at Evergreen Apothecary to celebrate history. "This is groundbreaking."

"It's been pretty smooth, orderly," said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman. "People were acting respectable. The lines haven't been too long, maybe 20 to 30 people. We haven't heard of any problems."

Officials from the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division were on the job Wednesday, visiting shops to do compliance checks.

Curtis Durham, 24, of Chandler, Texas got to LoDo Wellness in Denver at 5:45 a.m. He said he's looking forward to "buying a legal bag."

In Texas, he said, "I've been to jail two or three times just for simple marijuana possession of less than a gram. I went to jail for having a pipe."

Durham says he is looking forward to avoiding drug dealers .

"I'm going to go to as many stores as I can," he said.

The shop opened at 8 a.m. to a large but orderly crowd. One of those in line was John Stiltz, 62.

"I smoked pot for the first time when I was 16 in the '60s," Stiltz said. "I looked forward to the day when a harmless, recreational drug would be legal. I wanted to be part of the history.

Tyler Alstrup, 23, paid $100 for an eighth of an ounce, two joints and an edible. He smiled broadly as he held up the bag for a photographer.

Peggy Workman, 50, and her husband Charles, 56, said they usually buy from a friend who shares his medial marijuana. What kind did they plan to choose at LoDo Wellness?

"I have no clue," Charles Workman said.

Building owner Donald Andrews was getting into the spirit of the day, yelling "It is a thing of beauty!" as he gazed at the LoDo Wellness line.

Concerned about possible shortages, the shop said it might impose limits on the amount of marijuana customers can buy. Non-Colorado residents would be limited to an eighth of an ounce; residents would be limited to a quarter ounce.

Justin Achenbach, 39, came from Casper, Wyo., to buy "one of everything" at LoDo Wellness.

Unwrapping an edible, Achenbach said, "they're like hard candy. I can't wait to come back."

Charles Bechtel, 57, said he'll likely return to LoDo Wellness, which charges about the same as his dealer.

"I kinda like this," he said.

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I dunno. I'm not convinced tobacco should be legal. I'd rather my kids didn't ever smoke anything. I may have to wrap them in saran wrap and keep them in the basement until they are twenty one.

Much, much more worrisome AFTER your children are 21.

Legalizing marijuana, I feel only compounds the problems society already has with alcohol.

Too many drunk drivers on the road. Now we're going to add to the problem by adding people who are high?!

Why should my life be endangered because someone else drinks or smokes pot? People can talk till their blue in the face about people needing to take personal responsibility, but you only know that with marijuana legal, that many more people will be driving while high -- and endangering people's lives.

On the related note, I don't mind someone smoking pot once in a while, but I certainly would not want to have a relationship with someone who smokes pot daily.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I "met" someone online who seemed like a nice enough person. He said he was on vacation up north with his sister for Christmas. In one text message he sent me, he said he was high and singing karaoke with his family.

That was a little red flag -- his mentioning that he was high. But I thought, "Well, it's Christmas, he's on vacation, maybe it's just 'once in a while thing'."

When he got back, we went on our date. All he talked about was his getting high. He said he gets high 2 or 3 times a day. I knew he wasn't for me.

I don't want to have a relationship with someone who is high all the time, nor with someone who drinks alcohol all the time.

Being the liberal that I am, I am inclined to say that marijuana should be legal. But the pragmatist in me feels that legalizing marijuana might be a bad idea.

I voted "yes" ~ there have been MANY studies done on whether or not marijuana is harmful ~ if I'm not mistaken, each study showed it was LESS harmful than alcohol ~ so I'm thinking it should be legal and then it can be taxed like liquor or cigarettes ~ and "medical marijuana" should definitely be legal ~

While I respect both greeny's and SciFi's opinions, I don't think making marijuana "legal" will boost usage ~ I think many people would be [perhaps unhappily] surprised at just how easily/readily available it is now ~

Sooz

Everywhere else its been legalised usage has declined. But there you go. So there goes your "driving" problem. In fact, from historical experience, driving while moderately high is probably a lot safer than driving while moderately drunk.

Just ask yourself, how many people have OD'd on MJ?

i think it is going to end up being a very good thing.

I answered "undecided" too. I see enough people who've made pot smoking a vocation that I am not a fan.

I voted yes. It seems to me that a lot of the problem with the pot now days is stuff that's mixed with it. I think that would be less if it's no longer the drug dealers handling it.

I've not really seen any evidence that there is a lot of violence by people who smoked pot vs those who drink. From my experiences long ago I would say most people high on pot don't really go out driving a lot and if they drive it is slowly. Most times that would be because of munchies so encourage people to stock up before they smoke. Ha. The greatest danger with me when high on pot was I was always laughing and I would get really horny. . Not sure what my excuse for that is now although I do have to take some heavy duty (good) drugs.

IMO, there are far more benefits to pot than negatives. No, I'm not talking about staying stoned, I am talking about recreational and medicinal use.

LOL, jeanne ~ my own experience is similar-but-different than yours ~ I'd get giggly, then ravenously hungry, and then fall asleep ... wherever I was ~

Sooz

my state voted yes at the polls.. first, as was pointed out, it is not addictive, second, people already drive stoned, now they will get a dui for it, third, no known health problems, medical pot was already legal here, fourth, take the business away from the black market, tax the profits, fifth, who is mixing What with the pot?? back in the 70's you heard of opium dipped pot, but now local growers, pure pot...

From a health and safety perspective, I would say no - the same I would say about alcohol. The trouble is, from a practical point of view we saw what happened to the crime rate when alcohol was banned and what happens with "illegal" drugs. Overall, we might be better off dealing with the problems of having it legal.

That's exactly how I see it, Jim.

We should have learned something from prohibition, but we didn't.

If marijuana is made legal, it can be regulated. We can require a license to sell it, tax it, and have laws making it illegal to sell to minors.

It won't be perfect, but then what is?

Exactly. I would not want my kid using it, legal or not, just as I worry about my kid using alcohol. Marijuana can make you lazy and make you make bad decisions and can be a gateway drug, just like alcohol.

But we will see s significant saving in money spent on "criminal justice" for marijuana users, collect some tax revenue, and create jobs in the industry.

I would feel no need to use it if were legal. I doubt I could maintain an interest in a steady relationship with a chronic user.

Legalize it. I haven't seen a single issue with making it legal. All I have seen are benefits. It affects people differently. Some become very paranoid. Some lose all inhibitions. Most of the folks I know that smoke it are gainfully employed and productive members of society. If it weren't for my company drug testing. I'd partake in a puff puff pass session from time to time. Anyone that wants to purchase weed can do so. You could drop me off in any city and I guaranteed before the day is out, I could score a bag.

i think people worry far too much about public safety associated with pot. why? two reasons:

1) over 100M Americans have used pot at some point in their lives. i don't know how this number compares to legal alternatives, but it would have to be close to some of them.
2) stoners are fairly insular. i remember being unerringly careful while high. i never got into trouble. in fact, most of the time i stayed home, listened to music, and went to sleep early. comparing pot to alchohol is not useful in this sense. alcholo makes people overly ambitious and sure of themselves. pot? just the opposite.

I have a couple of questions:

1) Marijuana is illegal on the federal level. Who made it illegal? Congress?

2) Marijuana may be legal in the state of Colorado, but it is still against the law to possess it on the federal level. Couldn't the feds still swoop in and arrest people in Colorado who are in possession of marijuana? And I think the shop owners could be looking at long prison sentences.

Both are interesting questions that I can't answer, SciFi ~ I'm fairly certain that, technically, federal trumps state ~ it will be interesting to see how this unfolds ~

Sooz

If enough states do this, the Feds will be forced to do the same I think.

If I remember correctly, that has actually happened in California where the feds raided and arrested purveyors of medicinal herb even though what they were doing was legal under state law.

California has been dealing with this for many years. the answer is that federal trumps state. unless the feds relax those restrictions (they are, under this admin), CO's pot experiment could be shut down any time.

i think it is inevitable that the DEA will reclassify pot.

I'm wondering if Colorado's potato chip distributor is a publicly traded company. There might be an opportunity there.

LOL, jim ~ and don't forget cookies ~ or ... anything not nailed down or frozen solid ~

Sooz

I voted yes because

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because...

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er

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... I forgot...

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