Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jun 2016
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2016 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Kristen Wyatt, The Associated Press

PROPOSALS TO ROLL OUT POT CLUBS SPARK DEBATE

Backers say smokers need "place to go"; foes foresee "wrong message"

Legal marijuana is giving Colorado a stinky conundrum. Visitors can 
buy the drug, but they can't use it in public. Or in a rental car. Or 
in most hotel rooms.

The result is something marijuana advocates and opponents feared - 
people toking up on sidewalks, in city parks, and in alleys behind 
bars and restaurants - despite laws against doing so. And they're 
getting dinged with public marijuana consumption tickets.

 From the capital city of Denver to mountain resorts such as Aspen 
and Breckenridge, police wrote nearly 800 citations for the new crime 
of public consumption in 2014, the first year recreational sales began.

Some legalization advocates believe they have a solution - pot clubs. 
Denver voters may consider a ballot measure this fall to make the 
city the most populous place in the nation to expressly allow pot clubs.

"People need a place to go," said Teresa Wright of Lafayette. Wright 
was volunteering in Denver recently to gather signatures to ask 
voters this fall about allowing private pot clubs. "You can go out 
anywhere and see people using alcohol. To socialize, to relax. But 
not marijuana," Wright said. "We deserve to have a place. It's a 
legal activity."

But marijuana clubs have proven a harder sell than legalizing the 
drug in the first place.

The amendment that legalized marijuana doesn't give people the right 
to use it "openly or publicly," a nod to critics who said 
legalization would lead to an explosion of Amsterdam-style clubs. But 
Colorado's constitution doesn't ban public use, either, leading to a 
confusing patchwork of local policies on weed clubs.

Denver and Colorado Springs have existing pot clubs, but the clubs 
operate somewhat underground with occasional police busts.

Nederland regulates a club that advertises: "Out of state, out of 
country, and of course locals are welcome." In southern Colorado, 
Pueblo County allows clubs but has none.

Things get even more complicated in Englewood, where City Council 
members were apparently taken by surprise that the city had licensed 
a pot club. They then voted 7-0 this month to allow no more clubs.

No other states with legal recreational pot have licensed clubs, 
either. Alaska's Marijuana Control Board voted last year to repeal an 
explicit ban on social marijuana clubs, but the state hasn't yet 
finished work on the potential to allow for people to use pot at 
certain stores that sell marijuana.

Concerns about pot clubs mirror worries about legalizing the drug. 
Law enforcement officials have said the clubs could lead to more 
impaired driving, although there's no evidence that existing 
underground clubs have been linked to traffic accidents or crime.

"There's no good regulatory model for what these clubs should look 
like," said Colorado Rep. Jonathan Singer.

The Democrat planned to propose some sort of pot club bill during the 
recent legislative session, but gave up after law enforcement, the 
pot industry, state regulators, and even bars and restaurants 
couldn't agree on how it should work.

Others worry that pot clubs would further encourage minors to try the 
drug. One Denver woman interviewed at a popular park said she fears 
that clubs would further entice her underage grandchildren to try pot.

"The fact is, marijuana is all over the city now," said Sara Epstein, 
77. "It's so easy to get. Why do they need a club? That's just going 
to show kids it's even easier to get. It's the wrong message."

Marijuana activists trying to get a club measure on Denver ballots 
say pot skeptics should welcome clubs for just that reason.

"You don't want it in your face? Great. Let's get it off the street," 
said Jordan Person, head of Denver NORML, which is backing the ballot 
measure. "We're not going to put more people on the road high. 
They're already there, probably driving while they use it. So this is 
better than that."

Person's group has until mid-August to collect about 5,000 signatures 
to put the question on municipal ballots this November. She had no 
estimate how much the campaign could cost if the measure makes 
ballots. Four years ago, Denver County approved legalization nearly 2-to-1.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom