4-20 photo by Kate McKee Simmons
With only one meeting left to go for Denver’s Social Consumption Advisory Committee, there are still a lot of unknowns about how the city should allow marijuana to be used at events and businesses.
The committee tasked with shaping Initiative 300’s roll out has been split on how accessible social consumption areas should be, whether customers should be allowed to use alcohol and marijuana under the same roof and what to do about the smell of marijuana if people consume outdoors.
On the other hand, the 20-person group generally agrees that consumption should be kept away from children, that neighborhoods should get a chance to weigh in on what businesses are permitted through needs and desires hearings and that permitted events should look nothing like the city’s annual 420 celebrations.
Committee member Emmett Reistroffer worked on the campaign to get I-300 passed in the fall. On Friday, Reistroffer said he was “appalled” the city continues to allow the 420 Rally to be held in Civic Center Park.
“It is one the most recklessly organized events I’ve ever seen in my life. There are children and young people everywhere with widespread consumption,” Reistroffer said. “I don’t want that 420 Rally to be an example of what we fought for because it’s what we’re trying to stop.”
That sentiment was something even committee member Rachel O’Bryan could get behind despite working on the campaign against Initiative 300.
I-300, in a nutshell, allows just about any kind of business that doesn’t sell marijuana to apply for a cannabis consumption permit under the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program. If approved, a business owner can set up space for people to use marijuana in their business.
The program also has an avenue for event organizers to apply for permits to set up temporary consumption spots. Those spots can’t be on public property and permit holders have to follow the same rules as permitted businesses such as paying $2,000 in fees, only allowing those 21 and older to enter, locating at least 1,000 feet away from schools and keeping consumption out of the public eye.
In theory, an event organizer could find a privately-owned parking lot, get a permit and set up tents or another temporary structure for a consumption area during A Taste of Colorado, First Friday Art Walks and other big scale events in the city.
“My issue with special events is we don’t know. We don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t know what to even expect,” said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of Denver Excise and Licenses. “If we get these rules going and adopted say by July, then we have July, August and September — big, huge event months, right? What if we said one a weekend, because we said we’re going to see how this thing goes.”
Kilroy will ultimately make the call on what rules her department places upon permit seekers.
Read the rest of the article at the website listed below:
By Adrian D. Garcia | Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at agarcia@denverite.com or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
https://www.denverite.com/starting-better-idea-social-marijuana-consumption-will-lookin-denver-32243/
[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]
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Social Consumption Committee Discusses Special Events…and 4/20
As industry advocates gear up to celebrate 4/20, the city’s Social Consumption Advisory Committee is starting to wrap up its work, which means that Denver could soon see legal public consumption every day of the year.
Although the committee meeting on March 24 saw some dispute over the image of the places where public consumption will be allowed under Initiative 300, which voters approved last fall, there was consensus on other issues. For example, members agreed that public hearings over licenses should not be places for people to vent about legalization or the implementation of social use; those are realities that Denverites are just going to have to deal with.
The details of special-event permitting sparked more discussion, though, particularly events allowing dual consumption: alcohol and cannabis.
Kobi Waldfogel, the committee’s event-planning representative, noted that there are a few different types of events to consider, including cannabis-themed events where the primary objective is to get together and consume marijuana; concerts and music festivals; and smaller local events that are more community-focused.
Committee members generally agreed that in many cases, there can be a designated area for smoking — whether in a tent or behind a fence, and always out of view from children. For public events, consumption could be confined to a closed-off area, which would still be considered private and require an ID to enter.
For concerts and other festivals, Waldfogel mentioned the possibility of “adjacent consumption,” where alcohol would be allowed in one area of a venue and cannabis in another.
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The last social-consumption committee meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 6, at the Webb Building in room 4.G.2 — two weeks before 4/20.
By Kate McKee Simmons
Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.westword.com/marijuana/marijuana-denvers-social-consumption-committee-tackles-special-events-8914159
[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]