Pubdate: Wed, 01 Jan 2014
Source: Belfast Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2014 Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/42

POT SMOKERS CHEER 'GREEN WEDNESDAY'

Marijuana smokers in Colorado today hailed the arrival of the nation's
first recreational pot industry.

Retail sales were not to begin until 8am (1500 GMT) but marijuana fans
did not wait to celebrate the industry.

"Honestly, I thought I'd never see the day," said Errin Reaume of
Denver, who shared hits of concentrated marijuana at a 1920s-themed
"Prohibition Is Over" party in downtown Denver.

Across town, a dispensary was setting up a food truck and coffee
service for campers awaiting the opening of sales on so-called Green
Wednesday. Temperatures were in the upper 30s Fahrenheit (2 to 4
degrees Celsius) - balmy for a January night in Colorado - and
revellers ditched jackets and sweaters as they alternated between horn
blowers and joints and bongs.

Pot activists hope the marijuana experiment will prove that
legalszation is a better alternative than the costly US-led drug war.
Sceptics worry the industry will make the drug more widely available
to teenagers, even though legal sales are limited to adults over 21.

Preparation for the retail market started more than a year ago, soon
after Colorado voters in 2012 approved the legal pot industry.
Washington state has its own version, which is scheduled to open in
mid-2014.

Pot advocates, who had long pushed legalisation as an alternative to
the lengthy and costly global drug war, had argued it would generate
revenue for state coffers and save money by not having to lock up so
many drug offenders.

Still, setting up regulations, taxation and oversight for a drug
that's never been regulated before took some time.

Colorado set up an elaborate plant-tracking system to try to keep the
drug away from the black market, and regulators set up packaging,
labelling and testing requirements, along with potency limits for edible pot.

The US Justice Department outlined an eight-point slate of priorities
for pot regulation, requiring states to keep the drug away from
minors, criminal cartels, federal property and other states in order
to avoid a federal crackdown. Pot is still illegal under federal law.

Police in the eight Colorado towns allowing recreational pot sales
were stepping up patrols to dispensaries in case of unruly crowds.
Denver International Airport placed signs on doors warning fliers they
cannot take the drug home in their suitcases.

With the additional police patrols, the airport warnings and various
other measures, officials are hoping they have enough safeguards in
place to avoid predictions of public health and safety harm from the
opening of the pot shops.

A group of addiction counsellors and doctors said they're seeing more
marijuana addiction problems, especially in youths, and that wider pot
availability will exacerbate the problem.

"This is just throwing gas on the fire," said Ben Cort of the Colorado
Centre for Dependency, Addiction & Rehabilitation at the University of
Colorado Hospital.

Marijuana activists were hoping Colorado's grand experiment would not
be that noticeable after an initial rush of shopping.

"Adults have been buying marijuana around this country for years,"
said Mason Tvert, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. "The
only difference is that in Colorado they will now buy it from
legitimate businesses instead of the underground market.

Photo: General manager David Martinez labels containers of retail 
marijuana behind a sales bar fitted with a brochure available to 
customers at 3D Cannabis Centre in Denver (AP)
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D