Denver to Vote on Public Cannabis Consumption
October 10, 20162012 was a historic year for cannabis in America.
For it was the year that recreational cannabis became legal for the first time in the United States.
The US states of Colorado and Washington trail blazed the way - shattering the taboo from decades of 'reefer madness' attitude in the States - and legalizing recreational use of the herb.
Colorado's Amendment 64 went into effect in late 2012, allowing adults over 21 to possess a maximum of one ounce of retail cannabis.
The problem ever since though has been consumption.
Plenty of places to legally purchase - just about no places to legally consume.
Colorado law prohibits cannabis consumption in public, whether outdoors or at indoor public locations.
So-called cannabis 'social clubs' and Amsterdam-style 'coffee shops' are prohibited. A small number of Colorado hotels (expensive) and limousine-type services allow consumption, but not much beyond that.
Legal consumption spaces are sorely lacking across the entire USA, where there are now a handful of states with legal recreational-cannabis and a plethora of states with legal medical-cannabis.
Things may change in Denver however.
Next month's national election will include a measure on the Denver ballet to allow for public cannabis consumption, albeit with limitations.
Initiative 300 allows for the first time for indoor public consumption, but it would be restricted to non-smoking forms of consumption such as edibles and vaporizing. And the inside of the consumption area must not be visible to anyone outside of it.
Similarly, outdoor consumption would be allowed for the first time and would require being screened off from public view.
However the outdoor consumption spaces would have one big bonus over indoor spaces - smoking of the herb would be allowed.
