Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jan 2017
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2017 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82

TRAVELING TO DENVER FOR POT CLUBS? RULES ARE STILL UP IN THE AIR.

[photo] Partygoers smoke marijuana during a Prohibition-era themed New
Year's Eve party at a bar in Denver, celebrating the start of retail pot
sales. Denver is starting work on becoming the first city in the nation to
allow marijuana clubs and public pot use in places like restaurants, yoga
studios and art galleries. Voters narrowly approved the "social use"
measure last November. (Brennan Linsley / AP)

Denver has started work on the nation's first law allowing marijuana clubs
and use in public places such as coffee shops or art galleries. But the
details about what those pot clubs would look like are very much in the
air. Here's what we know, and don't know, about the looming pot clubs
headed to Denver:

WHEN WILL THE POT CLUBS OPEN?

Applications are available Friday, but the city has no deadline for
issuing the licenses, which will cost $2,000 a year. An informal workgroup
made up of police, restaurants, state health authorities and marijuana
activists is meeting to suggest regulations for the city licensing
authority, but the final call will be made by city regulators.

HOW WILL THE CLUBS WORK?

That's an open question. A measure approved by voters last year says that
clubs couldn't allow anyone under 21, can't sell the marijuana and can't
allow it to be smoked inside. That means any clubs or venues allowing
marijuana use will be bring-your-own establishments. Critics point out
that the businesses will then have no control over what people are
consuming, or how much.

WHERE CAN I FIND A POT CLUB?

CAN I GET A DRINK WITH MY JOINT?

Nope. Marijuana activists envisioned a system where marijuana could be
consumed alongside wine and cocktails at participating bars, but the
Colorado Liquor Control Board blocked any pot bars. After the Denver vote,
the state liquor regulators approved a rule saying that businesses with a
liquor license could not allow marijuana consumption.

DOESN'T COLORADO ALREADY HAVE POT CLUBS?

It does. Colorado's 2012 law legalizing recreational pot actually didn't
ban clubs, leaving the state with a patchwork system of local regulations
regarding public marijuana use. A few towns tolerate private
"members-only" clubs, but Denver bans them and has sporadically raided
those that popped up. The new Denver ordinance is the first to
specifically permit and regulate public marijuana use.
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