Denver Becomes First City in America to Allow Cannabis in Restaurants and Bars

Denver residents voted in favor of Proposition 300, which legalizes the use of cannabis in restaurants bars, or any other kind of public space. The catch is you can’t smoke inside, but you can smoke in patios, decks or designated smoking areas. Amsterdam 2.0 in America is quickly becoming reality.

Emmett Reistroffer is a Denver cannabis consultant and campaign manager for the indoor smoking measure. It’s the sensible thing to do,” Reistroffer told Fox News. “This is about personal responsibility and respecting adults who want to have a place to enjoy cannabis.”

Non-smoked cannabis inside restaurants and bars is permitted. Applicants would first have to get approval of neighborhood support. In addition, patrons would theoretically have to bring their own cannabis due to local laws that prohibit the sale of both food and cannabis. Applicants would also have to provide a strategy to identifying and controlling over-intoxicated cannabis consumers.

The Colorado State Legislature is already considering a bill next year that would allow communities to “clarify” how businesses can allow public smoking.

Mason Tvert from the Marijuana Policy Project, as usual, shut down the claims of the opposition and appeared to win the argument. He says he’d rather see tourists smoking inside enclosures than on the street, as they currently do. “We are setting up a system that is still more restrictive than what we see with alcohol consumption,” Tvert said.

Other than Denver, the only other state that allows for the consumption of cannabis in retail businesses is Alaska, however it’s not allowed in restaurants or bars. Retail cannabis stores across Alaska are contemplating “tasting rooms” although it’s unclear if they will be permitted.

The initiative runs through 2020, unless Denver voters make the initiative permanent. The communities’ right to instate their own laws makes for a “hodgepodge” of local ordinances.