Widgetized Section

Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone

Vail Valley Rep. Polis applauds regulation of marijuana, pushes for federal legalization

By
January 1, 2014, 12:28 pm

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado, and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., now wants to see pot regulated like alcohol nationwide.

“Today Colorado becomes the first state to implement comprehensive marijuana regulation,” said Polis, whose district includes Vail and part of surrounding Eagle County. “By regulating marijuana like alcohol, Colorado voters hope to reduce crime and keep marijuana away from kids.

marijuana“I applaud Colorado’s efforts to implement the will of the voters and will continue my work to pass H.R. 499 to regulate marijuana like alcohol federally.”

The sale of marijuana for recreational use by consumers over the age of 21 was made legal by the statewide passage of Amendment 64 in November of 2012. Colorado and the state of Washington became the first two electorates in the world to legalize recreational marijuana.

Hundreds of retail outlets applied for permits to sell pot in Colorado starting today, but only a handful completed the lengthy process in time to actually open their doors today.

One of those stores, the Breckenridge Cannabis Club, is located in the nearby ski town of Breckenridge in neighboring Summit County.

Town of Vail officials are still considering how to proceed on the issue of recreational marijuana, voting recently to continue a ban on allowing retail recreational pot sales.

Vail Resorts posted a blog in mid-December reminding snow riders that the ski company’s facilities are located on leased United States Forest Service land and that marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

“It is not legal to use marijuana publicly, on lifts or on USFS property; therefore, it is not legal on Vail Mountain,” Vail Resorts officials blogged. “We also do not permit the consumption of marijuana in any of our facilities or premises under our control and we will enforce this vigorously.”

Some ski-town tourists have expressed dismay over Colorado’s new marijuana laws. However, businesses are lining up to cash in on what’s expected to be lucrative new pot tourism industry. How it lines up with the state’s existing outdoor recreation industry remains to be seen.

Other mountain outlets for pot sales include stores in Idaho Springs and Central City, both located between Vail and Denver.

The Huffington Post today released a list of recreational pot shops open for business both in Denver and across the state. Here are the shops listed outside of the Denver city limits:

Breckenridge Cannabis Club, 226 S. Main St., Breckenridge (Map)

BotanaCare, 11450 Cherokee St., Northglenn (Map)

Marisol Therapeutics, 922 Kimble Dr., Pueblo West (Map)
Northern Lights Natural Rx, 2045 Sheridan Blvd Suite B, Edgewater (Map)

Patients Choice/Bud Med Health Centers, 2517 Sheridan Blvd., Edgewater (Map)

The Annie’s, 135 Nevada St., Central City (Map)

The Greener Side, 3321 S. Interstate 25, Pueblo (Map)

The Kine Mine, 2820 Colorado Blvd., Idaho Springs (Map)

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profile

David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.

One Response to Vail Valley Rep. Polis applauds regulation of marijuana, pushes for federal legalization

  1. Brian Kelly

    January 1, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    The “War on Marijuana” has been a complete and utter failure. It is the largest component of the broader yet equally unsuccessful “War on Drugs” that has cost our country over a trillion dollars.

    Instead of The United States wasting Billions upon Billions of more dollars fighting a never ending “War on Marijuana”, lets generate Billions of dollars, and improve the deficit instead. It’s a no brainer.

    The Prohibition of Marijuana has also ruined the lives of many of our loved ones. In numbers greater than any other nation, our loved ones are being sent to jail and are being given permanent criminal records which ruin their chances of employment for the rest of their lives, and for what reason?

    Marijuana is way safer, and healthier to consume than alcohol. Yet do we lock people up for choosing to drink?

    Marijuana is the safest and healthiest intoxicant known to man, with many wonderful medical benefits as well.

    Even The President of the United States himself has used marijuana. Has it hurt his chances at succeeding in life? If he had gotten caught by the police during his college years, he may have very well still been in prison today! Beyond that, he would then be fortunate to even be able to find a minimum wage job that would consider hiring him with a permanent criminal record. Let’s end this hypocrisy now!

    The government should never attempt to legislate morality by creating victim-less “crimes” because it simply does not work and costs the taxpayers a fortune.

    Marijuana Legalization Nationwide is an inevitable reality that’s approaching much sooner than prohibitionists think and there is nothing they can do to stop it!

    Legalize Nationwide! Support Each and Every Marijuana Legalization Initiative!