Am I the only one from Colorado that doesn't want a pot tourism industry?

[Jhhnn]

My 2 trips to Amsterdam were fun as Hell but Colorado's law isn't mirroring that model whatsoever. We may get there someday but this move forward obviously wasn't it. Call it naysaying if you want, but the reality of it all, as we saw with the med laws, is that from here on out the laws and the changes we will see in the future will depend on how folks act with the limited freedoms they have been offered to date.

And the FED hasn't weighed in yet, so any and all of this could be moot @ any point.

I doubt that there will ever be any going back on the personal possession & personal growing aspects of A64, because it can't be legislated away. They need a 2/3 majority in both houses to put it before the voters, totally unlikely, and even less likely that the voters will reverse A64 under any circumstances.

I seriously doubt that the Feds are even interested in hobby growers who don't sell, either. Any household can readily grow enough to stay stoned as they please & have some left over for guests & Christmas presents.

Which is not to really disagree at all, but rather to point out that this is a huge advance in personal freedom for tokers even if the future of commercial marijuana remains cloudy.

Yeh, sure, it'd be nice to stroll over to the pot shop, buy & try different strains & concentrates back home. It would be even nicer to be able to toke up on the spot, enjoy the ambiance. I'd like nothing better than to be traveling, spot a farmers' market, taste their local herb & buy more if I like it.

We're not there yet, may never be in my lifetime, but with A64 we've crossed the threshold & locked the door behind us. That's a very, very good thing.

 

[monsoon]

I wasn't directing my comments to the individual rights of all of this. Sorry, should have been clearer. I agree. The individual right is untouchable and the Fed isn't coming to CO for small growers.

Definitely a huge advance. Only the big guys need worry.

The Farmer's market scenario sounds cool, but I haven't bought pot in 20 years and am not about to start now. (trades are good though)

 

[Jhhnn]

I wasn't directing my comments to the individual rights of all of this. Sorry, should have been clearer. I agree. The individual right is untouchable and the Fed isn't coming to CO for small growers.

Definitely a huge advance. Only the big guys need worry.

The Farmer's market scenario sounds cool, but I haven't bought pot in 20 years and am not about to start now. (trades are good though)

I've been out of the scene for so long that I'm utterly disconnected, and I have a lot of catching up to do. Being able to buy small quantities as testers appeals to me, and being able to sample & buy lovely varietals that I might not be able to practically grow could be great. It's like wine- a particular variety grown on a particular hillside during a particular year given a particular cure might have exceptional qualities. At legal farmers' market prices, it'd be hard to pass up, like driving to Paonia for a crate of peaches from the grower you visit year after year. Some years are better than others, but they're all better than what I can get at the supermarket.

Just sayin', ya know?

 

[pugliese63]

I've been out of the scene for so long that I'm utterly disconnected, and I have a lot of catching up to do. Being able to buy small quantities as testers appeals to me, and being able to sample & buy lovely varietals that I might not be able to practically grow could be great. It's like wine- a particular variety grown on a particular hillside during a particular year given a particular cure might have exceptional qualities. At legal farmers' market prices, it'd be hard to pass up, like driving to Paonia for a crate of peaches from the grower you visit year after year. Some years are better than others, but they're all better than what I can get at the supermarket.

Just sayin', ya know?

I agree with you 100%. Right now its still a novelty because there's only a few places that you can go that have the position that Colorado and Washington have.

For example, driving up to Paonia for peaches from the grower. That's a lot of fun and a great privilege. Fortunately Paonia isn't the only place to get a crate of peaches from a farmer. Therefore when you go to get your peaches you may be the only one there. If it were the only place to get peaches then that would be a different story. You'd probably be standing in line only after dealing with finding a place to park.

If we see legalization spread then the whole novelty begins to wear off. I've lived in a few heavy tourist areas and know first hand what its like to deal with out of towners.

 

[Jhhnn]

I agree with you 100%. Right now its still a novelty because there's only a few places that you can go that have the position that Colorado and Washington have.

For example, driving up to Paonia for peaches from the grower. That's a lot of fun and a great privilege. Fortunately Paonia isn't the only place to get a crate of peaches from a farmer. Therefore when you go to get your peaches you may be the only one there. If it were the only place to get peaches then that would be a different story. You'd probably be standing in line only after dealing with finding a place to park.

If we see legalization spread then the whole novelty begins to wear off. I've lived in a few heavy tourist areas and know first hand what its like to deal with out of towners.

In tourist areas, that's where the money comes from, the out of towners. Without it, many Colorado mountain towns would be a helluva lot poorer & less populous, bet on that. It's easy to disdain tourists, until they quit showing up. Then it's a lot like cutting off the air supply...

If pot were laissez-faire legal, no regulations, the price would fall through the floor, other than for name brand connoisseur grade. It'd be as cheap as peaches in season at the orchard, and indoor growing would become an entirely unprofitable curiosity.

That's why outlaw cashcrop growers often piss & moan about out of state "schwag", the same reason that bootleggers secretly allied themselves with Baptists to maintain prohibition. Legalization threatens their racket. Witness California, where the MMJ establishment fights to maintain the straddle, the quasi-legal nature of their business. They don't want pot to really be legal, they just want the Feds to lay off...

 

[SooperSmurph]

The implementation of retail was given an unrealistic timeline, resulting in the panic of insane add-on regs (5 nanograms for a DUI means some people would be "under the influence" weeks or even months after quitting), while i'm in favor of it, I think it's being rushed to outrun the response of the traditionally slow Feds.

That being said, more people are consuming cannabis regularly thanks to the changes, that's a great thing in and of itself.

 

[Danbridge]

Interesting thread. Thanks for posting. I remember seeing a bumper sticker on a Colo. car that read :"don't Californianate Colorado" Felt a bit insulted as I am a native Californian.

 

[Jhhnn]

The implementation of retail was given an unrealistic timeline, resulting in the panic of insane add-on regs (5 nanograms for a DUI means some people would be "under the influence" weeks or even months after quitting), while i'm in favor of it, I think it's being rushed to outrun the response of the traditionally slow Feds.

That being said, more people are consuming cannabis regularly thanks to the changes, that's a great thing in and of itself.

The insanity of it is because lawmakers were granted any role at all. They didn't want it, still don't, and cling to the notion that they can stymie recreational use & distribution. While A64 is deeply flawed, the personal possession & cultivation provisions insure that they're pissing into the wind. That will become increasingly obvious even to them over the next few years.

 

[barnyard]

OMG those Colorado peaches. Its the warm days and cool nights that facilitate brix production. My Mum used to make the most delicious spiced peach preserves. I remember eating so many peaches as a kid I got hives. The Western slope also grows a terrific pear and grape.

I say all peaceful stoners welcome (but I wish the percentage of dudes to lasses was reversed). We just need a place for everyone to smoke.

Whatever you do don't get caught smoking in your car with over an ounce as this will cause you major trouble.

and yea, expect to pay a hun per quarter(including 25% tax)...

 

[intotheunknown]

Pot tourism, kinda has always been here.
I know several people from long ago who used to rave about "colorados weed" from out of state and would come here to pick up, smoke, whatever.

I dont think its anything new, just has been amplified now that the laws have changed.

 

[Johnny Redthumb]

Colorado has always been a tourism location, and pretty transient over all with tech jobs, military jobs, oil and mining jobs. Where have you been?

 

[paperchaser825]

Seriously though, every time I see this thread I think about packing up my board and getting a ticket to your fine state. Not only do I get to do something I love to do (board), but I now have the luxury of now tasting some of the finest cannabis in the world as well. If the city knows how to handle money, I'd be damned surprised if the whole state wasn't running a ridiculous tourism surplus sometime soon. The whole idea gives me butterflies inside coming from a non-anything state. Cheers to those soaking up the summer while it lasts over in the Rockies.

 

[greenmatter]

the state could make some serious money off pot tourism ...... the problem is that the guys who want to make herb illegal again are going to be here pointing there fingers at everything that is bad about it.

if you want to come to colorado and burn one more power to you ! but PLEASE,PLEASE PLEASE be good stoners while you are here because the "opposition" is always looking for bad examples to smear all over the political scene. we have to play chess for a few more years ......... cause the douche nozzles are not going to stop pushing their tic-tac-toe bullshit just because we beat them fair and square in something as silly as voting

 

[monsoon]

if you want to come to colorado and burn one more power to you ! but PLEASE,PLEASE PLEASE be good stoners while you are here because the "opposition" is always looking for bad examples to smear all over the political scene.

TRUTH!! Other than the individual right to grow and possess, damn near every other aspect of this law can be changed/altered/modified without a vote of the people. If folks come here and don't obey the laws (no public display/use/etc) our laws will change and provisions allowing non-residents to tap the generosity of our pot laws here/etc.etc.etc. could easily be taken away.

IF those allowances ever come to fruition, that is. I still think the FED is gonna stop the entire show in its tracks very soon.

 

[Jhhnn]

TRUTH!! Other than the individual right to grow and possess, damn near every other aspect of this law can be changed/altered/modified without a vote of the people. If folks come here and don't obey the laws (no public display/use/etc) our laws will change and provisions allowing non-residents to tap the generosity of our pot laws here/etc.etc.etc. could easily be taken away.

IF those allowances ever come to fruition, that is. I still think the FED is gonna stop the entire show in its tracks very soon.

Ik think that the only people who can stop it might be the Feds. Read A64- read the whole thing. It *demands* that the legislature create a licensing regimen for retail MJ-

(5) Regulation of marijuana.
(a) NOT LATER THAN JULY 1, 2013, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ADOPT REGULATIONS NECESSARY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS SECTION. SUCH REGULATIONS SHALL NOT PROHIBIT THE OPERATION OF MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENTS, EITHER EXPRESSLY OR THROUGH REGULATIONS THAT MAKE THEIR OPERATION UNREASONABLY IMPRACTICABLE.

http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/s/regulate-marijuana-alcohol-act-2012

Ultimately, localities that favor retail MJ will simply instruct the police to pretend that nobody is smoking pot in public, provided it's discreet, and to merely remind people to stop if they're over the edge.

The other side of it is that I haven't seen any penalties for public consumption or indiscreet growing. If there's no penalty, it's tough to engage in enforcement, don't you think?

Cop- "Hey! You can't do that here!"

Stoner- "Uh, OK, officer. Sorry about that."

Yeh, sure, he can roust you for ID, maybe even search you, but if you're legal, you're legal, and he has to send you on your way. He can't even take your shit, because there's no statutory violation occurring. In the past, statutes & penalties have always hinged on possession or sales. If you got busted toking in the park, you got busted for possession, not for toking. Lawmakers seemed to have forgotten about that detail while running around like Chicken Little.

Which isn't to say that the anti- forces will give up, or that some localities won't stay stupid, but they're cornered, hemmed in by A64, regardless of the FUD they're spreading.

 

[Piper uses]

what is up with all the negative crap?

i was in colorado early this year, February . these laws have DEFINITELY made a difference in cannabis consumption. I live in one of the worst states in the entire country for cannabis. Finding cannabis in colorado was a joke it was so easy, without a medical card or anything, AND it was top grade something i would never see in the state I live in.

i arrive and theres a mmj shop on every corner in boulder and denver. the news paper has numerous adds for hydroponic sales, and mmj shops. to say this place is still so super regulated on cannabis and to say this place isnt a cannabis smokers heaven is ...

first day i was in boulder, a half hour after walking downtown i found two young men willing to sell their small couple grams they had on them. it was really top qual meds something i would never see here. it wasnt enough so 10 minutes later i saw another young man w dreads. he was real cool and said he could hook me and my friends up with a half o of top shelf. lo and behold it was top shelf he had blue venom and tangerine haze i believe. i smoked the whole half o pretty much to myself in a couple days

if you think colorado still enforces cannabis laws, come live in the state i reside. God bless the haters and non hater alike!

 

[RedBeardy5]

Im making the move to Colorado and can not stand when people give tourists problems. I mean what the hell. Jobs go up, housing market goes up, the whole state goes up. The rest of the U.S. will see this progression and they will eventually follow Colorado's lead bc money speaks volumes, tourist are making you money. I hope ignorance is not that bad out there

 

[RedBeardy5]

A lot of people that are moving there are doing it to FOLLOW the law bc it is legal. If everyone was coming to break laws they would just stay where they are. I favor happiness way over money after losing my sister. I realized I want a simple life where I can walk my dogs in the mountains and grow my own, instead of staying in the unhealthy rat race like chicago

 

[JimmyRow]

i saw some folks getting cuffed and rolled out of a concert a few days ago for smoking refer at a concert. but that was only after some fucking asshole and another kid wrote in to the county paper bitching about how they couldnt enjoy the pink floyd laser light show w/o smelling cannabis smoke.

get real...all concerts smell like that. not only the ones here in CO

 

[monsoon]

A lot of people don't understand that the same law that makes it "legal" here also makes a >specific< point that it's NOT legal to smoke in public - like at a PF parody laser show/faux concert.

People need to be smarter and less parading and take more responsibility for their actions (stupidity). Nobody gets you popped and nobody is to blame if you do get popped - but you.