Colorado Springs Bans Cannabis Clubs

Recently, City Council members voted 6-3 to ban cannabis clubs in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Clubs had a six-month moratorium to come up with a plan, which expired last Tuesday.

Colorado passed Amendment 64 in 2012, which legalizes recreational cannabis sales. Critics accuse Colorado cannabis clubs of maneuvering through the local legalese to sell cannabis.

Clubs that are already open will have eight years to close. “It is scary,” Steve Pacheco, owner of The Pothole said. “We, for one, invested a lot of money to open up a club like this. Two, we see the kind of impact we are having in the community.” It began when the FBI raided the Lazy Lion, a popular local cannabis club in January. “It’s the same way they got Al Capone. They got [The Lazy Lion] for tax evasion,” the Lion’s attorney Matthew Buck told the Independent.

Only council members Helen Collins, Jill Gaebler and Bill Murray opposed the ban. In addition to the ban, the council voted 7-2 to require existing clubs to file for a license, just like bars apply for a liquor license.

Cannabis clubs began sprouting up to keep the consumption of cannabis indoors, instead of drawing attention outside. “These are things that we attempted to avoid, so by taking the responsibility on, much like you’d see in a bar, we were able to do that. We were able to monitor the rate of consumption, so that if someone was too inebriated we were better able to control that,” said Speakeasy Cannabis Club Owner Jaymen Johnson.

Club owners are saying that they’re planning on filing a petition to recall the ban. “This is ridiculous. Would you rather people go elsewhere to get it from drug dealers on the streets? My name is first on that petition,” said Myles Christensen, a cannabis club member.

Cannabis club business isn’t just a ruse to sell cannabis—it’s a rational way of keeping cannabis smokers indoors.