Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jan 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold

SMOOTH START TO POT SALES

Denver police chief says officers have cited one person a day for 
public use and seen seven burglaries since Jan. 1.

Since the start of legal recreational marijuana sales, Denver police 
have cited about one person per day for public pot smoking, the 
city's police chief said Monday.

Chief Robert White told members of a City Council committee that 
officers issued nine citations for public marijuana consumption 
between Jan. 1 and Saturday. White said there have also been seven 
burglaries of marijuana businesses in that time, but only one of 
those occurred at a recreational marijuana store. The burglary 
numbers, White said, are in line with what the city has previously 
seen in the medical marijuana industry.

"Looking at the number of burglaries that we have in general and the 
number of burglaries we have of dispensaries, that number is probably 
relatively consistent," White said.

The enforcement numbers are part of what Denver's new marijuana czar 
said Monday was a fairly problem-free start to the nation's first 
legal sales of marijuana from stores that can sell to anyone over 21 
for any purpose. Ashley Kilroy, the executive director of marijuana 
policy for the city, said good communication between city leaders, 
police and store owners ensured that big crowds at the stores have 
not led to mass chaos.

"We were very lucky that everything went so smoothly," she said.

Denver was home to the majority of stores that opened for 
recreational sales on Jan. 1, and, since then, the city has continued 
to issue licenses. Judy Steele, from the city's Excise and Licenses 
department, said Monday that the city has now issued final licenses 
to 28 recreational marijuana stores as well as 43 commercial 
cultivation facilities, nine marijuana-infused products makers and 
one marijuana-testing lab.

So far, Steele said, the city has held 64 public hearings on 
prospective marijuana stores. Only eight of those hearings were contested.

The city has denied four applications, all for what Steele said are 
"proximity issues," meaning they are too close to a school or another 
marijuana business.

Councilwoman Jeanne Robb said she believes neighbors' voices aren't 
being heard enough when they protest. Robb said the public hearings 
don't allow speculation on the store's impact on the neighborhood.

"I think this just goes to show that the criteria we set up make it 
really hard for a neighborhood to have any history that they can 
really show it's going to be a problem on into the future," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom