Pubdate: Sun, 12 Jul 2015
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2015 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Aguilar

NEW MARIJUANA CLUB IGNITES DEBATE ON USE

The City Probably Will Create Rules on Public Toking.

Englewood - Pot smoking just got a little easier in the Denver area - 
but no less fraught with controversy.

A newly opened cannabis club here allows, for a fee, people ages 21 
and older to spark a joint, pack a bowl or vape some THC concentrate 
with other like-minded weed enthusiasts.

But last month's debut of Colorado's latest marijuana smoking lounge 
- - iBake Englewood, 3995 S. Broadway - quickly ran afoul of city officials.

Last week, the Englewood City Council passed a six-month emergency 
ordinance prohibiting additional pot-smoking clubs. The city probably 
will create permanent rules against onsite consumption in the coming months.

The quick scramble by Englewood highlights one of the most vexing and 
intractable conflicts playing out in the wake of Colorado's 2012 
pot-legalization law: People are free to buy marijuana in the state, 
but use of the drug in public is not permitted.

The public-consumption conundrum leaves many users, particularly 
visitors and out-of-town tourists, in a bind.

Most hotels in Colorado are not pot-friendly, and smoking lounges - 
another iBake in Adams County, Nederland's Club Ned and a pair of 
clubs in Colorado Springs - are few and far between.

C.J. Fuchs, who moved here from Florida with his father to open iBake 
Englewood, said he ran headlong into the problem on a prior visit to Colorado.

"I could buy pot, but I couldn't smoke it," he said. "I'd get fined 
in my car, and I'd get fined in my hotel."

So he decided to get in front of the problem. But with many Colorado 
municipalities outright banning marijuana clubs - Denver police 
raided two businesses over the 4/20 weekend - finding a place to open 
a lounge wasn't easy.

Englewood spokesman Mike Flaherty said the city, which does not allow 
the sale of recreational marijuana, was essentially caught 
flat-footed when iBake came for a business license.

Englewood codes do not speak to the legality of marijuana use in social clubs.

"We weren't prepared for this membership type of use," Flaherty said. 
"It would have been our approach to not allow this. This one got by us."

The contradiction in the law has led to boisterous discussions about 
what constitutes public consumption and the extent to which 
government should restrict use of a product that voters in Colorado 
have overwhelmingly deemed legitimate for adults.

Pushback from marijuana advocates is most notably coming in the form 
of a campaign to get a measure on Denver's November ballot that would 
expand marijuana consumption to commercial establishments - including 
bars and clubs - that meet certain guidelines.

Results from a poll released last week show that 56 percent of likely 
Denver voters support the initiative.

Jeff Gard, an attorney who specializes in cannabis law, said 
providing legal places to smoke would make it less likely that 
cannabis users will sneak hits in alleys and behind dumpsters. But 
there are even more fundamental issues at stake, he said.

"You cannot stop free association," he said. "Individuals over 21 
have the right to come together and use marijuana. Government cannot 
infringe on that."

Gard will head to Denver Municipal Court on Tuesday to argue for the 
dismissal of charges against The Break Room, one of two former 
private Denver marijuana smoking clubs raided in April.

He said the club is akin to a local branch of the Elks Lodge - open 
to members only. That privacy element not only counters a charge of 
public consumption, he said, but provides the business with an 
exemption to the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act.

Fuchs said that despite city leaders' apparent distaste for his type 
of business, he intends to be a good neighbor. Ultimately, he'd like 
to see rules relaxed on the establishment of gathering places for cannabis use.

"This is a necessity," he said. "I'd like to see these places all over."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom