Initiative 300 backers had pressed for other changes; city will accept permit applications by end of August. Denver’s plan to allow people to use marijuana at some businesses drew a step closer to reality Friday, when the city’s top licensing official unveiled final rules for the pilot program that is set to launch in coming months.
Big questions remain: Will the newly adopted regulations for the first-in-the-nation “social use” program provide measured protection for patrons and neighbors of businesses that take part, as city officials say? Or are the rules for consumption areas so restrictive that few businesses and event organizers will want to bother?
The exuberance that greeted the Nov. 8 passage of Initiative 300 — in which 54 percent of city voters directed officials to create a four-year pilot of the social marijuana consumption program — is now tempered among its chief supporters. Their protest of several draft rules released May 11 resulted in only a couple changes by city officials, including the nixing of a proposed requirement that patrons sign waivers upon entry to a business’ consumption area.
“I still have questions that I need answered. We still have concerns about many of the rules,” said I-300 campaign leader Emmett Reistroffer, from Denver Relief Consulting. “However, I recognize some improvements and I’m hopeful that there still are opportunities for businesses and nonprofits to allow cannabis consumption.”
The city will begin accepting applications by the end of August to permit social consumption areas on an annual basis or for events.
As required by the ballot measure, applicants must obtain backing from a registered neighborhood organization, a business improvement district’s board or other area group. That gives those groups the power to set operating conditions for the set-off, 21-and-older areas indoors or outdoors where customers could consume their own cannabis; indoor areas would have to follow the state’s smoking ban.
Yoga studios, coffee shops could take part
Interested businesses so far have included yoga studios, coffee shops with back-door patios, and bars or restaurants — though liquor-license holders must be willing to meet strict alcohol exclusion rules for regular or one-off events, because state liquor-licensing rules bar the mixture of alcohol and marijuana.
Businesses that grow or sell marijuana in Denver won’t be eligible to apply for consumption area permits. Fees for successful permit applications will total $2,000.
Officials say they need to update licensing systems to process the applications, so that likely will push back the acceptance of requests from an original late July target. Reistroffer called that delay a big disappointment because backers were hoping for summer events to be among the first to take advantage of the program.
“We have had a very aggressive timeline, and we’re right on time” in finalizing the rules, said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of the Department of Excise and Licenses, adding: “Building any structure from the ground up takes time.”
An advisory committee including both supporters and opponents of I-300 helped shape the regulations. The committee found broad consensus on some issues but disagreed on a handful of the most contentious.
“We are grateful that many of our concerns were heard,” Rachel O’Bryan, who managed the anti-Initiative 300 campaign and took part in the committee, said in a statement. “These final rules released by Denver Excise & Licenses fairly balance the desires of marijuana consumers and potential social consumption permit-seekers with the needs of all Denver citizens and visitors alike.”
But she cited worries about the message that would be sent to children who saw the consumption areas in businesses and about patrons’ use of edibles. “Denver citizens and visitors should be vigilant around the increased risks of marijuana-impaired driving,” O’Bryan said.
Initiative 300 provided some restrictions for businesses, and the city’s new regulations flesh those out while adding detailed rules, often drawing from the city’s prior regulations of the marijuana and liquor industries. They focus on operating restrictions and location restrictions — purely residential zoning districts, public property, and properties within 1,000 feet of places such as schools and child-care centers are off-limits — and provide numerous permit conditions, including public hearings for business applications.
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Read the whole story here:
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/30/denver-final-social-marijuana-use-rules/
By Jon Murray | jmurray@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]