Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 2015
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Steve Knopper

COLORADO: GOING HARSH ON THE POT PARTY

In Colorado and in Washington state, residents may not toke up in 
public although the rules for what constitutes a public event can be murky.

DENVER - You might imagine that Colorado has become a pot-fueled 
cultural carnival since the state legalized recreational marijuana 
last year: midnight screenings of "Dude, Where's My Car?" ; 
uninhibited jam-band concerts at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre 
under clouds of herbal smoke.

In fact, both here and in Washington state, residents may not toke up 
in public - and that includes restaurants, bars, football games and 
rock concerts - although the rules for what constitutes a public 
event can be murky. Advertising for pot sales, too, is problematic, 
as Colorado bans spots on billboards, TV and radio stations and the 
Internet if more than 30% of the target audience is underage. (Two 
publications have challenged this Colorado law; Washington has no 
such state-law restrictions.)

In December, Seth Rogen tried to promote his movie "The Interview" by 
inviting Denver marijuana enthusiasts to a screening at a small 
theater. After city officials threatened to shut down the event, the 
actor was reduced to wandering the aisles with a bottle of tequila, 
pouring shots for attendees.

Last spring, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra announced a "classically 
cannabis"  fundraiser, but Denver city officials shut it down, 
banning concertgoers from bringing and smoking pot at the event. (The 
CSO later held the event privately; a spokesperson did not respond to 
a request for comment.)

"The cannabis was supposed to be regulated like alcohol, but it's a 
strange mixture of all the regulations for alcohol and all the 
regulations for tobacco,"  says Ash McGonigal, an independent 
filmmaker trying raise funds to open a theater in rural Gilpin County 
west of Denver, where moviegoers could smoke pot while watching art 
films. "It's going to be very political going forward." McGonigal 
adds that "local governments"  are supportive of his efforts and are 
willing to work with him, but he wouldn't divulge cities or names.

In Washington, the public pot celebrations are even sparser. "It 
would be nice if they had some changes to the law to increase 
tourism,"  says Trek Hollnagel, director of operations for 
4-year-old, Seattle-based Dope magazine. "You can imagine if some 
people in Washington could take advantage of that - some of the 
better clubs or lounges struggling with business could change over to 
vapor lounges."

One effect of the new laws is to draw some artists more frequently to 
the state. Since the state legalized marijuana in early 2014, the 
annual events on April 20, the unofficial pot-smokers' holiday, have 
drawn rappers Snoop Dogg , Wiz Khalifa and, this year, Cypress Hill, 
Method Man and Redman.

Whoo Kid, a veteran DJ and Sirius XM host who has worked with dozens 
of superstar rappers, is one of many musicians who have added 
Colorado to their must-play list. "I'm from New York City - 
Colorado's not on my list of destinations. But it became a 
destination that I have to check out at least a couple of times a 
year,"  says the DJ, who played the April 20 rally in 2014 and 
returns in two months. "We go there a day early for the show, and we 
stay another day, then we leave. It's really three days for one show. 
Might as well relax and smoke and chill out."

Nevertheless, at last year's concert, police gave out 47 citations 
for public pot consumption.

"[Pot] ends up being a nice perk once you're there, but not really 
the reason we're going,"  Peter Schwartz, booking agent for Danny 
Brown and Cypress Hill, told Denver's 5280 magazine. "Let's keep in 
mind, realistically, that people who enjoy marijuana have it. They 
don't really need to go to Colorado for it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom