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Denver Cannabis Law To Make Marijuana Use Legal In Public

By Nick Younker
Published on: 13:14 PST, Nov 15, 2016

Denver is about to pass a cannabis law that will essentially make it the first city in the Unite States to legalize marijuana use in public, if everything goes as officials close to the matter have been reporting.

In a new report from Reuters, the Denver law that mandates an expansion of rights for cannabis has all the support necessary for it to pass. This is something that the state of Colorado has been on the front heels of ever since it decriminalized marijuana back in 2012, along with Washington and now California – among several other states.

Cannabis use has been an issue that has been taken to the ballot box in many progressive American states that have voted to decriminalize cannabis and allow people to freely use marijuana for both recreational and health purposes. Although the election of Donald Trump over the past week seems to say otherwise, voters in these localized areas have shown up in droves to support an overhaul of the laws that govern marijuana, just not on the federal level yet.

To date, all of the gains that have been made by cannabis advocates across the nation have been on regional and state levels, including Illinois and California, both of which have voted in one way or another to legalize certain types of marijuana use, including recreational and medicinal.

The new measure in Denver, Colorado essentially marks a milestone in the fight for cannabis rights and expands people’s access to marijuana for whatever purposes they seek. Although many states have now voted to decriminalize cannabis, some have done so with certain restrictions that may still require more legislation to decriminalize further.

Denver is expected to take the first local steps toward decriminalizing cannabis in public settings. Supporters and opponents of the Denver cannabis measure have both weighed in on the early reports for the upcoming law, and both sides have said that there is every expectation for it to pass with a lion’s share of support for the new city-wide provision.

Even though some states have mostly decriminalized the use of cannabis, or marijuana, there are still provisions that allow for law enforcement to make citations for the use of marijuana in public places.

The new Denver cannabis law would take up that issue and specify that marijuana can be used in certain places with designated areas for the use of cannabis. It would essentially allow business owners, such as those who own clubs, bars or restaurants, to make designated spaces for the use of marijuana in their establishments.

Kayvan Khalatbari is a Denver businessman that has been at the forefront of leading this initiative in Denver now since its inception. He released a statement on Tuesday in regard to the expected victory for the measure that should pass soon.

“This is a victory for cannabis consumers who, like alcohol consumers, simply want the option to enjoy cannabis in social settings,” Khalatbari said in his statement.

Khalatbari also seems to think that the cannabis measure will not only pass, but it will be streamlined through the bureaucracy and give businesses the ability to allow the use of marijuana in their establishments as early as January.

But news from the other side of the fight is not so bright. Rachel O’Bryan, who manages the campaign for Protect Denver’s Atmosphere, released a statement to Reuters that is a stark contrast to Khalatbari’s statement on the legalization of public marijuana use.

“Back in 2012, marijuana legalization passed with a strong majority in Denver… and now about four years later, I-300 passed with a much smaller margin,” O’Bryan told Reuters by phone.

“We think many voters voted in favor of marijuana legalization, but didn’t want to see marijuana everywhere.”

[Featured Image by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

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