Pubdate: Tue, 31 Dec 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Section: page 1A
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Eric Gorski, The Denver Post

POT TOURISM SEEKS ACCEPTANCE IN COLORADO AS FIRST RETAIL SHOPS OPEN

The dawn of pot tourism in Colorado will bring shuttle buses to the 
state's first recreational marijuana shops, guides sharing their 
stashes with out-of-staters and watchful eyes at ski resorts and 
Denver's airport.

After months of speculation, the opening of the nation's first 
recreational pot shops Wednesday will provide early signs of whether 
marijuana tourism is legitimate and worthy of investment or 
overstated and damaging to the state's image.

At least three pot-themed tourism companies that didn't exist a year 
ago are preparing to welcome their first visitors of 2014 and trying 
to figure out how state and local regulations will influence their plans.

The state tourism office is keeping its distance, while the ski 
industry is assuring guests the slopes are pot-free and the air is clean.

Marijuana industry officials estimate 30 percent of recreational 
sales - made possible by voter-approved Amendment 64 last year - 
could be made by out-of-state visitors.

But there are limits. While Colorado residents 21 and over may 
purchase up to an ounce of marijuana at licensed pot shops, 
out-of-staters may purchase only a quarter-ounce at a time. And 
marijuana cannot be taken out of state.

"We've had a lot of interest, a lot of curiosity, a lot of buzz," 
said Peter Johnson of Colorado Green Tours, a travel agency seeking 
to cater to a luxury crowd.

Johnson's company will take guests in limos and SUVs to newly opened 
stores and private grow operations. Guides are "cannabis aficionados" 
who share their supply with guests for no charge, Johnson said.

"We are professionals in the travel business," said Johnson, 39, who 
has worked as a stock trader and tech entrepreneur. "We're not a 
bunch of stoners trying to have a party."

Timothy Vee, owner and operator of Colorado High Life Tours, is going 
after budget travelers. For $99 a person, the company offers "a Napa 
Valley wine tour, but with marijuana."

The day-trips include guided tours of retail stores with stops at 
tourist spots like the mile-high step at the state Capitol. 
Afterward, everyone gets a "Mile High Club" sticker.

Vee said he expected a clientele of young adults, but so far his 50 
or so clients are mostly baby boomers and retirees.

To address concerns about his drivers getting high, the 45-year-old 
Vee said that inside vehicles he is using vaporizers, which heat up 
marijuana and deliver the high without second-hand smoke or much smell.

Under Colorado law, it's illegal to have an open container of 
marijuana in a private vehicle or consume pot on public transportation.

State law is not entirely clear about whether passengers in 
limousines, tour vans or tour buses can smoke marijuana.

The Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act prohibits smoking marijuana in any 
limousine or other vehicle that holds itself out as available to the 
public. Those certified by the state Public Utilities Commission may 
meet the description. The law provides an exception for "limousines 
under private hire" but does not define that term.

The state's new open-container law for marijuana, meanwhile, provides 
an exception for back-seat passengers in vehicles "designed, 
maintained, or used primarily for the transportation of persons for 
compensation."

My 420 Tours, which launched before April 20, pot's big holiday, has 
eight tours scheduled through April, with the first on Wednesday, 
co-owner Matt Brown said.

"There are a lot of people who just want to see - who want to see 
what is behind the door," he said.

The Day One plan is to ferry visitors to pot shops and a party called 
Cannabition, which was scaled back and moved because of uncertainties 
about whether it runs afoul of Denver restrictions.

Brown sees pot tourism at a juncture similar to where medical 
marijuana dispensaries stood in 2009 - a new industry in search of 
clearer regulations.

"If 2013 ends and 2014 begins with things seeming wildly out of 
control and flagrant violations of the intent of Amendment 64, I 
think we get more severe, crackdown-type rules," he said.

The Colorado Tourism Office is not budging from its stance against 
promoting pot tourism, director Al White said.

"Our position is there is a whole lot more to do and see in 
Colorado," he said. "We are not going to change that platform. It's 
too early at this point to understand what kind of impact it will have."

Visitors to Colorado spent $9.4 billion in the state in 2011, the 
office says. Richard Scharf, president of Visit Denver, warned before 
the 2012 vote that legalization would damage Colorado's brand and 
could result in fewer conventions and leisure tourists.

Two weeks ago, Visit Denver officials toured a Denver dispensary at 
the invitation of the Denver-based Medical Marijuana Industry Group.

Visit Denver spokesman Rich Grant said the city's convention and 
visitors bureau remains unconvinced about pot tourism. Visit Denver 
needs the best return on investment, and marijuana tourism has no 
track record, he said. Grant said the city has yet to lose any 
conventions from groups citing the passage of Amendment 64.

Colorado ski resorts are reminding guests through e-mails and signs 
that public smoking of marijuana is illegal, said Jennifer Rudolph, 
spokeswoman for the industry group Colorado Ski Country USA.

She said resorts are telling visitors that resorts "are a safe place 
to ski and ride and to enjoy the mountains and the fresh air."

Most Colorado ski resorts are on U.S. Forest Service land, and 
federal law prohibits all marijuana possession. In a memo last summer 
laying out expectations for recreational marijuana in Colorado and 
Washington, the Justice Department identified keeping pot off federal 
land as a priority.

At Denver International Airport, officials plan to begin enforcing a 
new policy soon prohibiting possession of marijuana on all airport 
property, spokeswoman Stacey Stegman said.

After Amendment 64 went into effect, airport visitors could carry an 
ounce or less at the airport as long as they weren't going through 
security, she said. Flying with marijuana - including medical 
marijuana - is not allowed because pot possession is prohibited by 
the Transportation Security Administration, she said.

Stegman said city-owned DIA chose to bar all possession and display 
of pot to eliminate confusion and make the same rules apply to all.

The airport has discretion to set such rules under state law and city 
charter. On other city property, possession of marijuana is legal, 
but it cannot be displayed or transferred.

Stegman said the airport will add decals on sliding glass doors and 
signs stating the rules. Violators may be fined up to $999.

State Rep. Dan Pabon, a Denver Democrat who sat on a task force that 
recommended rules and regulations for recreational marijuana, said 
tourists should know the state has set limits, including prohibiting 
driving while stoned.

"It's a cautionary tale at the very least to those who think this is 
just a free-for-all state," Pabon said. "It's definitely not."

With little more than word of mouth, the Cliff House Lodge and Hot 
Tub Cottages in Morrison has become a destination for visitors who 
enjoy marijuana as tourists or use it as medicine.

Angela Bernhardt, who with her husband manages the historic inn, said 
tobacco smoking is prohibited in rooms - not-so-subtle code words. On 
the back porch, surrounded by privacy fences, guests routinely 
partake in pot smoking, she said.

"It's been happening for years, and there's a huge market for 
out-of-state tourism coming in," Bernhardt said. "Shutting down any 
of it is stupid. This is like being at the forefront of a movement." 
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