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Amendment 64 guarantees the recreational use of marijuana
to Colorado residents and, hopefully, out of state visitors, depending on recommendations by the Governor’s Task Force to the Colorado General Assembly, allegedly to be voted on by July of 2013.
Supposedly by March 7th of this year, critics and proponents on the Task Force are to complete their arguments on many issues related to our groundbreaking state Amendment, including how to tax sales of cannabis. Both sides agree the tax should be heavy, but if levies are too high, legal pot could become so expensive that people would continue to buy cannabis underground.
Recreational use of cannabis remains illegal under US Federal law, and the US Justice Department could block commercial pot sales, both in Colorado and in Washington State, nullifying any tax windfall for either state, and defying the will of the people. Our Colorado Task Force has already recommended potency labeling, limited marijuana advertising, set residency requirements for marijuana workers, and limited commercial sales to less than an ounce. Colorado’s Amendment also allows for residents of the state to grow their own six plants, and many of us are awaiting their recommendations. It looks likely that the Task Force will recommend against a residency requirement for cannabis consumers, opening the door to marijuana tourism in our state.
On a local level, all cities east of Boulder have placed or are in the process of placing moratorium on any recreational marijuana businesses. Since our state has had 12 years to impose regulations concerning medical marijuana dispensaries, these rules will likely hold sway as to commercial sales to the general public. Amendment 64 orders our state to come up with a regulatory scheme for retail sales. Boulder will likely pass an ordinance banning smoking marijuana in public, and possession and use of pot by people under 21 will likely be treated like alcohol, receiving a ticket for possession. Boulder City Council will be deciding if it wants to limit the size and number of recreational pot stores, and whether it wants to allow smoking in social clubs, a practice which has caused a lawsuit against our fair city of Lafayette. Boulder may end up as the only city in the area allowing recreational marijuana, but if Denver were to ban commercial sales, Boulder would likely reconsider its position. If that were to happen, it could create an incentive for medical marijuana businesses to turn to the black market. Currently it’s legal to possess an ounce, but there are no retail outlets to purchase pot.
It’s legal to smoke, now it’s time to make marijuana available to buy.
The will of the overwhelming majority of Colorado citizens is to regulate marijuana like alcohol.
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