Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Authors: Ricardo Baca and Elizabeth Hernandez

ACTIVISTS WANT ITS USE ALLOWED AT CLUBS, BARS

The same activists who in 2012 successfully legalized the 
cultivation, sale and use of recreational marijuana in Colorado have 
started their next big initiative: the push to allow pot consumption 
in places now off-limits.

Activists are seeking a measure on Denver's November ballot that asks 
voters to approve allowing marijuana consumption in commercial 
establishments - including bars and clubs - that meet certain guidelines.

They hope to get the question approved by the clerk and recorder's 
office and gather more than 4,700 signatures before summer's end.

To get the proposal on the November ballot, assistant city attorney 
David Broadwell said the petition would have to be "signed, sealed 
and delivered" by Sept. 3.

"We're confident that voters will agree that adults should be able to 
use marijuana socially in private venues when around other adults," 
backer Mason Tvert said prior to a meeting about the measure late 
Wednesday afternoon with Broadwell and others.

A public-consumption ban has inspired public-versus-private debates 
that led to the raids and closures of several cannabis clubs.

"Denver has been overly restrictive," said activist Brian Vicente. 
"We believe that's unconstitutional."

Most noteworthy about the proposal by Tvert and Vicente is that it's 
significantly more liberal than previous ideas involving 
cannabis-only clubs floated by state Rep. Jonathan Singer, 
D-Longmont, and others.

"We're proposing a narrow exemption to Denver's current ban on social 
cannabis use by adults," said Tvert, communications chief at the 
Marijuana Policy Project. "It would simply allow adults 21 and older 
to consume marijuana in designated areas and venues where only adults 
are allowed. This is allowing adults to have the option to use 
marijuana in certain venues that choose to allow it."

Instead of limiting marijuana use to cannabis clubs operating 
separately from bars, a model already in place in cities such as 
Toronto, this proposal would allow existing bars and venues to 
dedicate 21-and-older spaces to indoor vaporizing and outdoor, 
out-of-public-sight smoking, Tvert said. The smoking areas would 
conform to the state ban on indoor smoking.

Restaurant owners had no immediate opinion.

"We haven't polled our members on this issue because it is currently 
illegal to consume publicly," said Sonia Riggs, Colorado Restaurant 
Association president and CEO.

The activists said many of their proposed regulations would operate 
via the same rules placed on alcohol consumption, such as allowing 
underage patrons entrance to a concert venue serving liquor.

At Wednesday's meeting, Vicente noted that tourists encounter great 
difficulties finding locations to consume their legal pot:

The proposed "Limited Social Marijuana Consumption Initiative" spells 
out the suggested rules. Denver marijuana czar Ashley Kilroy said the 
city doesn't take positions on proposed ordinances but added that the 
issue of public consumption "has been on our agenda."

"They raise the same types of questions we've been asking about this: 
Do the people of Denver want to consume marijuana in a commercial 
business? What issues would we be solving if we allowed this in some 
way? I think those questions have been out there, and we've been 
engaged in those conversations," said Kilroy.

Vicente on Wednesday said their motivation for the proposal rested 
largely on the fact that "Denver was being inactive on the issue."

Kilroy said she attends neighborhood meetings and other forums, where 
she has "heard comments that range the entire spectrum."

Another question Kilroy has for the activists: Have they considered 
the conflicts with state laws?

The questions around state laws are contentious. Some in city 
government have said Colorado's pot-legalizing Amendment 64 prohibits 
the public consumption of marijuana, but Tvert and his colleagues 
(who wrote the amendment) disagree.

"As one of the people who conjured up Amendment 64 and was considered 
one of the two primary sponsors, I can attest to the fact that 
they're wrong," Tvert said. "Amendment 64 intentionally did not 
prohibit private businesses from allowing adults to responsibly 
consume marijuana on the premises. I don't know where they would get 
that. (Amendment 64) said it would be illegal to consume openly and 
publicly, but it's not open or public if it's in a private business."

Kilroy said: "There is that issue - if it is a private, commercial 
business that is open to the public, is it considered private?" She 
deflected the question to Broadwell, who also had no comment on the 
issue of Amendment 64 prohibiting the public consumption of cannabis.

Broadwell said he does wonder why proponents worded their proposal so 
broadly, rather than just suggesting cannabis clubs.

Tvert said the broad nature of the proposal is intentional. "It's 
really irrational to allow adults to consume this product but 
prohibit them from using it in private places that would allow it - 
especially with tourists," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom