Despite the excitement surrounding Denver becoming home to the nation’s first–ever cannabis cafes, most folks will be utterly disappointed when this concept is finally launched later this year.
It was recently announced that city regulators had finally put the finishing touches on the rules of a local initiative that gives the city of Denver the opportunity to experiment with cannabis lounges.
Unfortunately, the system seems to have been written by a group of uncultured conservatives, as they have done everything possible to suck the functionality out of program.
Unlike the image of the cannabis cafes that most people have grown accustomed to seeing, coffee shops in Amsterdam being a prime example, Denver’s situation is a a weak approach to giving people the so-called “freedom” to consume marijuana in public.
For starters, businesses granted permits for on-site cannabis consumption cannot sell marijuana to its customers. Instead, patrons must bring their own weed from home.
But don’t even think about lighting a joint in one of these places – the rules completely prohibit anyone from actually smoking marijuana. So, if you want to sit around in a “pot-friendly” establishment and get high with your friends, you’re going to have to rely on the use of edibles or vaporizers.
What’s more is that customers who take advantage of the new social use experiment will not have the ability to sip on a beer while they wait for their herb to kick in, as the rules clearly bar any business that sells alcohol (bars and restaurants) from participating.
Denver voters approved the social use initiative in the election last November, yet, the city’s vision for how this plan should shake out has not been consistent with the original language.
“What we’re approving today is far from what the voters approved six months ago,” said Emmett Reistroffer, one of the organizers with the city’s social use campaign, in an interview with Buzzfeed. “I would say 99 percent of the businesses that expressed interest in these permits are no longer eligible or interested because of the burdens.”
Sadly, the latest rules show that Denver is far from ready to allow marijuana to be truly handled in a similar manner to alcohol.
