Just because pot is
legal in a state doesn't mean dispensaries are, at least right away. Of the 24
pot-legal areas in the country, roughly half have working dispensaries. For the
rest of the areas, some are welcome to grow their own marijuana but not to distribute
them or allow consumption in public. There is a bill for legalizing pot and
another for allowing dispensaries to do business in a state.
Colorado is one of
a handful of dispensary-friendly states, but a closer look at its history
reveals a milestone. It was in Denver that the first man in U.S. history was
convicted of selling pot.
A lesson on
history: On October 2, 1937, authorities arrested Samuel Caldwell for
possessing three pounds of pot. At that time, Colorado was adamantly anti-pot,
from the laws to quotes said by the people who were present during the
conviction. Judge Foster Symes, who handled the case, remarked that he had
"no sympathy with those who sell this weed."
More than 60 years
later, Colorado turned over a new pot leaf with the passage of Amendment 20,
the first step that decriminalized marijuana. Nearly a decade later, Colorado
opened up to dispensaries, thanks to HB 1284, supported by SB 109. The state is
also the second to legalize pot for recreational use, the first being
Washington.
For advocates,
however, this is just the beginning.
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