A number of ski towns in Colorado are allowing recreational pot sales while other Colorado ski destinations are preventing the move. William Breathes, writing for the pot blog at Denver’s Westword.com, has written up this article on the different towns approaches to recreational pot sales.
Marijuana: Many ski towns allowing recreational pot sales
By William Breathes
Last week, Telluride officially approved sales of recreational cannabis, joining a majority of other tourism-reliant ski towns around the state that have given an okay to the ganja. Telluride took one of the easiest routes to retail-weed approval possible, with the city council voting in an application and regulatory system nearly identical to the one that existing medical marijuana dispensaries must follow. According to the Telluride Daily Planet, MMCs have been operating for years there with no trouble.
And since Amendment 64 passed by a wide margin, recreational sales didn’t have much opposition.
In April, Summit County commissioners voted to allow recreational marijuana sales and cultivation there as well. However, certain towns within Summit County have placed limitations on the industry. Frisco and Silverthorne will both allow the shops but are considering limiting the number of dispensaries to just a handful in each town.
Silverthorne is planning on putting a proposal for a 5 percent excise tax on cannabis sales before voters in November. Breckenridge has banned any new medical and recreational shops from opening up in the downtown area and is forcing the lone existing dispensary, Breckenridge Cannabis Club, to move out once its lease ends in September 2014. The measure was passed on a four-to-one vote in town council, with the majority arguing that they needed to maintain a family friendly feel in the town. The lone dissenting vote came from Councilman Ben Brewer, who argued that if liquor sales are allowed downtown, then cannabis sales should be, too.
In Routt County, Steamboat officials agreed in July to ban recreational sales from their downtown, as well as in any of the storefronts at the base of the ski hill. At the time, several councilmembers told Steamboat Today they are open to expanding zoning for marijuana shops in the future, but they need to see how things pan out in the first few years before revisiting the topic.
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