Denver Could Have Nation’s First Cannabis-Infused Spa

Denver, Colorado may soon become home to a cannabis-focused wellness business just minutes from the state’s capitol.

Utopia All Natural Wellness Spa and Lounge applied for a Cannabis Consumption Establishment license in the city’s Creswell Mansion, a 129-year-old historic building. If approved, the business will become the first legal cannabis spa in the United States. Cannabis has been legal in Colorado for over five years, and the state has become a model for other states to organize their own cannabis legislation.

Under Colorado’s Initiative 300, Colorado businesses set up an establishment for communal cannabis consumption with backing from a local organization. “We intend to be part of the culture of the neighborhood,” Utopia founder and CEO Cindy Sovine said to The Cannabist. “We really are an open door policy, our spa business is public. We look forward to welcoming members of the community in and educating them on cannabis and how it’s used.”

Five registered neighborhood organizations (Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods, Cultural Arts Residential Organization, Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, The Shire of Capitol Hill, and Unsinkables, Inc.) have announced their support of a spa in their area. It is the second business to apply for a social use permit, following a coffee shop.

The spa will feature two consumption areas in compliance with Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act. It will also include an indoor area where consumers can use edibles and vape outdoors and a ventilated seating area will allow smoking cannabis out of the vision of neighboring buildings. The spa will also offer cannabis-infused massages and ganja-focused yoga.

Not only does the spa plan to hold wellness events focused on healing services, social consumption and natural products, it could also sell products such as infused lattes, hemp clothing and spa products containing cannabis.

“The whole idea is to create social opportunities to bring people together,” said Sovine. It would provide an opportunity for people to use cannabis legally and safely, an opportunity states are contending with regulating. “This is going to be an ongoing public safety concern, and also a public nuisance concern,” she continued. “Regardless of how one may feel about cannabis, we need to find solution for all people.”