Denver shops get 1st ‘pot’ licenses

Mood giddy as city gears for recreational-marijuana sales

Shawn Phillips, right, owner of Strainwise marijuana stores, shakes hands with Denver Excise and License technician, Jennifer Scott, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 after receiving his license to legally sell marijuana at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building in Denver, Colo. The city is giving out licenses to the owners of 42 medical marijuana shops and growers Friday. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Andy Cross)
Shawn Phillips, right, owner of Strainwise marijuana stores, shakes hands with Denver Excise and License technician, Jennifer Scott, Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 after receiving his license to legally sell marijuana at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building in Denver, Colo. The city is giving out licenses to the owners of 42 medical marijuana shops and growers Friday. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Andy Cross)

DENVER - The first group of Denver businesses approved to sell recreational marijuana got their licenses Friday, with the owners posing for pictures and saying they never thought they’d see the day when they’d get a permit to sell the product.

Applause broke out and cameras whirred when the first license was issued from the city’s Excise and Licenses Department. The city awarded 10 licenses for retail shops, 12 licenses for marijuana growers and two licenses for makers of cannabis-infused products such as marijuana brownies.

One businessman joked about getting arrested for having a joint at a 1971 Black Sabbath concert. Others shared hugs and stories about marijuana’s route to legalization.

“I think it’s about time that adults can imbibe in marijuana,” said Donald Andrews of LoDo Wellness Center, one of the eight shops to receive permits.

The licensed sellers went through a state and local licensing process that included public hearings to ask neighbors about shop locations. Owners also underwent more than a dozen fire and building inspections for each shop.

“It’s been a grueling process, but we’re finally here,” said Justin Jones, owner of Dank Colorado, a retail shop.

Recreational marijuana for adults older than 21 has been legal in Colorado for more than a year, but retail sales of the drug aren’t allowed until 8 a.m. Wednesday. Washington state, the only other state to allow recreational marijuana use by adults, plans to have stores open by late spring.

Denver is one of 19 municipalities and seven counties in Colorado that will allow retail sales of recreational marijuana.

Only existing medical marijuana businesses are now allowed to make the transition to recreational sales. The licensed shops Friday were handed red posters and stacks of fliers instructing customers on marijuana limits, including the fact that users can’t consume it in public, drive high, or take the drug out of state.

“These are big businesses that have been operating in good standing in our city for a long time,” said Amber Miller, spokesman for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

Colorado has approved 348 marijuana business licenses. More than 100 of those are still pending in Denver, meaning the city is likely to have many more shops in the first few months of 2014.

Still unclear is what Wednesday morning will look like.

Some shop owners are planning to install purchasing caps and other limits to try to avoid a run on marijuana.

“We’re hoping next week will be a fun-filled experience but a responsible one,” said Elan Nelson of Medicine Man, a licensed shop and growing center in northeast Denver. “But this is a new experience for all of us, I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

Front Section, Pages 4 on 12/28/2013

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