Is Denver ready to allow limited public cannabis consumption?

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A recent survey from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found that 13.6 percent of Coloradans admitted to using marijuana in the last month, about twice the 7.4 percent of Americans who acknowledge using cannabis on national surveys.

As anyone who reads this column knows, I’m not a big fan of surveys. Yes, they do provide some kind of snapshot, but since cannabis is illegal for most Americans, just how honest do you think they are going to be on a survey? Since it’s now legal in Colorado, more people are probably willing to admit that they use cannabis than might have a few years ago. So let’s take all these data with a grain of hemp.

Still, that means there are more than 728,000 Coloradans, including more than half a million Denverites, not counting tourists, who use cannabis and a law that doesn’t provide many places where those folks can legally consume a legal product in the presence of other people. Though the amendment was written and intended to treat marijuana like alcohol, there is no real provision for public consumption.

This was at least in part a sop to the prohibitionists to help pass 64. But as a result, there are few places outside your own home where you can consume cannabis legally. Club Ned in Nederland allows you to buy a day pass to consume your own cannabis on the premises. A growing number of hotels and hostels around the state allow marijuana usage, but some chains actively discourage it. All of which means that while you can purchase marijuana just as you can alcohol, there aren’t as many opportunities to use it.

What about a parent who wants to relax after work but doesn’t want it in his home because of her children? Or someone who just wants a respite with his vaporizer and the chance to chat with another human? Or tourists who come to Colorado in part because of legalization and find themselves resigned to hiding in alleyways? It makes it appear that marijuana, which is still prohibited federally, is legal here — but just barely.

Though most municipalities are somewhat tolerant, in the first three quarters of 2014, Denver police issued 668 public consumption citations, a 470 percent increase from 117 in 2013. The few private clubs in the city seem in eternal conflict with the police and city officials. Arresting citizens for consumption of a legal product is a wasteful use of our legal system, especially since freeing up the courts was part of 64’s intent.

According to the survey, 18.5 percent, or more than half a million people in Denver use marijuana. Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project and attorney Brian Vicente, two of the main authors of Amendment 64, are readying “The Limited Social Marijuana Consumption Initiative” for the fall ballot there.

Tvert and Vicente met last week with state officials, and at press time, the initiative wasn’t quite finished, but Tvert calls it a narrow exemption to Denver’s current ban. “Ultimately, it will allow the limited social use of marijuana by adults in private establishments that decide to allow it,” he says. “The Clean Indoor Air Act will apply, so smoking would only be allowed in outside areas where smoking is allowed and which are not view able to the public.”

Tvert said that people would be allowed to consume non-smokable forms of marijuana (including vaporizers and edibles) inside businesses accessible to people 21 and older. If the business is open to those under 21, consumption can only take place in areas only accessible to people 21 and older and which are not viewable to those under 21 or the public.

It is similar to the approach the city of Pueblo has taken. “Theirs allows for cannabis-specific clubs and requires that people be members, among other things,” Tvert explained. “The Denver measure would allow for that type of club, but it is not limited to it because we did not want to take a ‘separate but equal’ approach. Thus, it allows for the consumption of marijuana in non-cannabis-specific businesses — bars, venues, galleries, etc.”

It’s an intriguing proposal, and we’ll all be watching this one carefully as the election nears, especially since the survey says that 18.9 percent, or 58,000 Boulder County residents identify as cannabis users, all with the same problem.

“It’s about high time we have an open and public conversation about what open and public means,” said Rep. Jonathan Singer when asked about the initiative. “And that means making sure we have safe, successful places for people to consume marijuana so they’re not breaking the law and consuming safely.”

You can hear Leland discuss his most recent column and Colorado cannabis issues each Thursday morning on KGNU. http://news.kgnu.org/weed