Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2014
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2014 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Richard N. Velotta

OTHER STATES WILL TRACK EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA TOURISM IN COLORADO

New Year's Day was historic for Colorado as the nation's first
recreational marijuana shops opened. By the second day, more than $1
million in sales was reported - and that doesn't even count the
spin-off tourism dollars expected to be generated.

Residents of the Centennial State are heralding the legalization of
recreational marijuana sales as a grand experiment that's bound to
attract thousands of visitors from other states.

I went to my former home state over the holiday and had to have a look
at one of the 36 dispensaries that opened statewide. At the 3D
Cannabis Center, there were 85 people in line outside the door and the
parking lot overflowed. Many of the cars in the lot had license plates
from Wyoming, Utah and Kansas.

A new industry has taken root in the Mile High City - "weed tours,"
similar to California wine country tours. For $1,900, visitors can
sign up for five-day experiences that include pickup from the airport,
five nights in a four-star hotel, transportation to a new festival and
concert known as the Cannabis Cup, a guided tour of a grow house and
daily breakfast-time "wake 'n' bake" events. All ground transportation
is smoke-friendly.

The state government's tourism leaders say they aren't going to track
marijuana tourism, but no doubt somebody will.

Pot can't be smoked publicly in Colorado, and although there were
widespread fears that people would be smoking in the streets when
sales became legal, there were no incidents of abuse in the first days
of legal sales. It will take some time before public agencies
determine whether any public health problems arise and whether
impaired driving incidents climb.

Representatives of Denver International Airport made it clear there
would be no tolerance for possession of illegal drugs or paraphernalia
at the airport.

The Denver Post launched a website dedicated to exploring the culture
of pot, called the Cannabist.

State and local taxes on marijuana sales total 21 percent, and an
ounce of pot from a dispensary runs about $400. Brisk sales and
generated tax revenue have prompted discussion of spreading sales to
other places.

Washington state's voters approved recreational use and will follow
Colorado later this year. This month, there were reports that a
petition drive has begun in Alaska to legalize recreational sales.

So, should Nevada - a state with a libertarian streak - consider
recreational marijuana sales? Should Clark County or Las Vegas,
renowned for its anything-goes attitude, let the cannabis genie out of
the bottle?

Prostitution is legal in all but two Nevada counties. There's a high
level of tolerance for the consumption of alcohol in our city. The
state is one of three to allow Internet gambling.

Would tourism numbers soar if the public were allowed to buy pot for
recreational use? Or would the social problems that could result
create bigger problems for the state or city?

It's clear that Nevada's experience with permitting voter-approved
medical marijuana shows some reluctance toward widespread use here.

Everybody will be watching to see whether Colorado's Rocky Mountain
high is a tourism success story or the gateway to new problems. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D