20 November 2016
We don’t often opine on these developments but it appears a rather shortsighted move by Denver city officials.
If Cannabis is to be socially normalized it should be made available in all the same venues as alcohol and other F&B products.
By ghettoizing cannabis to as yet undefined types of businesses and locations it implies that it must always be consumed separately from other F&B services.
OK, none of us really want a McWeed burger but we would suggest by placing it in businesses ( where extra rules and regs can be applied eg limited THC strength, can only be served in certain ways etc) would, to us, seem a sensible way to introduce the product into public retail environments.
The Cannabist reports…
State licensing officials delivered a blow Friday to Denver’s voter-passed Initiative 300 by announcing a new rule that will keep bars and many restaurants from applying for new social marijuana use permits.
The new regulation starting Jan. 1 will make clear that liquor licensees cannot allow the consumption of marijuana on their premises. It greatly expands the types of businesses that likely will be disqualified from applying for the new permits for on-site marijuana consumption areas when the city makes applications available in late January, as required by Initiative 300.
Already, licensed marijuana businesses, including dispensaries, can’t allow consumption on site under state law. Now add to that all bars and other businesses that serve alcohol, potentially including event venues.
Some of Initiative 300’s backers were caught off guard by the new rule, while others had state discussions on their radar. The Liquor Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue developed the regulation administratively in recent months, and the department’s director approved it.
Marijuana legalization activist Mason Tvert, who was part of the Initiative 300 campaign, said the big restriction still leaves plenty of businesses eligible to seek Denver’s consumption permits.
“This doesn’t completely hinder the entire law,” he said. “Remember that this whole thing kind of got started with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra fundraiser that was held in an art gallery,”
sparking a crackdown by the city in 2014 because of the event’s cannabis theme.
The Denver post reports
Some of Initiative 300’s backers were caught off guard by the new rule, while others had state discussions on their radar. The Liquor Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue developed the regulation administratively in recent months, and the department’s director approved it.
Bars can’t seek new Denver social marijuana use permits allowed by Initiative 300, state says
