Imperfect Proposal

Ever since cannabis was legalized in Denver, the city has been struggling with how to handle social use and public consumption. Many new rules and regulations have been proposed and turned down. Now Denver is proposing new rules for social consumption that do not sit well with some cannabis consuming citizens.

According to the latest social consumption rules draft that was published on May 11, businesses allowing social use must require customers who would like to consume cannabis socially to sign waivers to do so. Additionally, a ventilation plan would be required for places that are going to allow vaping indoors. Lastly, those with a liquor license would have to stop sales and temporarily suspend their license in order to sell cannabis.

“We are glad city officials are moving forward with implementing the voter-approved initiative to permit social cannabis consumption in certain venues, but we have strong concerns about some of the unreasonable rules they have proposed.”

While some see this as a set of practical first steps towards social use, others find the rules unnecessarily restrictive. Kayvan Khalatbari, a local advocate and cannabis business owner, is actively engaged in fighting these new proposals. “We are glad city officials are moving forward with implementing the voter-approved initiative to permit social cannabis consumption in certain venues, but we have strong concerns about some of the unreasonable rules they have proposed,” Khalatbari explained. “Cannabis is a legal product for adults in Denver, and voters have repeatedly asked that it be treated similarly to alcohol. The city’s proposed rules fail to do that and treat cannabis in a far more restrictive fashion despite it being a far less harmful substance to consumers and to the community.”

Khalatbari believes that the ruling is unfair, because adults who are over the age of 21 are allowed to enter bars and consume alcoholic beverages without signing any sort of waiver regarding the dangers of alcohol, and therefore the newly proposed social use rules are much stricter. He also takes issue with the fact that the proposed laws would require cannabis consumption locations to be twice as far from areas where children congregate in comparison to the zoning rules for bars.

“The goal of Initiative 300 was to end the unfair treatment of cannabis consumers, but some of the proposed rules reinforce the stigma it was intended to break,” Khalatbari said. “Prohibiting liquor-licensed establishments from allowing cannabis consumption areas disqualifies virtually every entertainment venue in town. These unnecessary and overly burdensome rules will deter businesses from seeking permits, in which case consumption will continue to take place in non-permitted areas.” While this law intends to give cannabis consuming adults a safe place for social use, restrictive rules like this will leave adults with no option but to consume cannabis where it is not permitted, for instance in streets and alleys surrounding permitted bars and restaurants.

It isn’t yet clear if the city will pass these rules into law or if this will fall by the waysid. In the meantime, Denver continues to struggle with internal arguments regarding the best way to handle social consumption.