By Duke London
Many states, including California, have initiatives on the upcoming November ballot that aim to keep pace with Colorado’s progressive recreational marijuana landscape.
Colorado, however, is using November’s ballot to let citizens decide on an important aspect of their ongoing marijuana industry regulation — public consumption. The debate about consuming cannabis in communal areas around Denver has been a long and heated one, with both sides presenting valid arguments. Denver voters will be tasked with deciding whether or not marijuana should be consumed in public places, and if so, where it should be consumed.
Currently, there are two competing movements within Denver, both with Bills in contention for ballot entry. The city requires 4,800 signatures from verified Colorado voters for ballot consideration, which neither movement has accomplished to date.
Denver’s local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, commonly referred to as NORML, were the first group to write a bill for this upcoming voting cycle. Denver NORML aims to legalize private marijuana clubs across the city where patrons could smoke freely without risk of arrest. The group and their co-sponsors have been collecting signatures for about 60 days and are roughly halfway to their goal.
The second piece of legislation that is gaining steam has a broader scope, hoping to create a climate in the city where any businesses, including bars, could designate an area where adults over the age of 21 could consume legally in public. This effort is sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project, law firm Vicente Sederberg, and local business owners including Kayvan Khalatbari, who owns the Denver Relief dispensary. Should this Bill pass, any business attempting to add a public consumption area would first need to secure approval from their respective neighborhood’s governing body. While organizers just approached the city with their plan on Tuesday, they aim to begin the signature collection process as soon as the Denver Elections Division approves NACCPP, which could be later this week.
Khalatbari and other sponsors want Denver NORML to concede defeat and let their public consumption area Bill play ahead due to concerns that creating private marijuana clubs would further isolate smokers from society. The Neighborhood Approved Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program aims to integrate marijuana smoking into the accepted social norm rather than continue to force people to smoke away from public view.
When Denver NORML was reached for comment regarding the other group’s request, their executive director Jordan Person said that scenario would not happen. “We have no reason to withdraw when we’ve made it so far. That would be ridiculous.” Person and his fellow sponsors are steadfast in their opinion that private smoking clubs are the route Denver voters will be more likely to approve come November.
Denver NORML also sees possible conflicts of interest between the NACCPP initiative and the laws outlined in CO’s Amendment 64, which made marijuana possession and sales for recreational use legal back in 2012.
Khalatbari and the NACCPP group disputes these claims, pointing out that their Vill takes the wishes of concerned citizens into account. Neighborhood leaders around Denver have been clamoring for more say in the matter, their biggest complaint being the densely concentrated areas where marijuana-related businesses tend to pop up. The NACCPP aims to end this problem by allowing most existing businesses to cater to their marijuana-smoking clientele rather than creating additional weed-specific businesses. Any business owner that wanted to apply for a designated consumption area within their establishment could do so on a temporary basis for one-off events such as a 420 party, or annually if they wished to allow marijuana consumption on-site full time.
“I just think it’s more considerate of all the things we’ve learned in the cannabis industry here in the last six months or a year, with all the stakeholders and their input,” Khalatbari said.
In both Bill initiatives, consumers would have to supply their own marijuana. It’s also worth noting the NACCPP wouldn’t apply to existing marijuana dispensaries, who are prohibited from allowing consumption on-site.
In the event that both bills make it to ballot and Denver voters approve both initiatives, there are differentiating opinions as to whether they could coexist. Person and Denver NORML believe their Bill, and the NACCPP could be simultaneously effective while Khalatbari and his fellow organizers don’t see it that way; they argue the initiative with more votes should prevail.
