Tourists on Hyman Accès, a shopping district in Aspen, Colo., peer into a legal dope store just a few steps away from retains like Ralph Lauren, Prada iPhone 5 case and as a result Burberry. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, AMERICAN TODAY)
ASPEN, Colo. — Over a year after Colorado legalized marijuana sales made, there's a pot shop just a few treatments away from the Prada iPhone case, Ralph Lauren, Sotheby's and Burberry stores in this toniest of tony ski towns.
Citizens from around the world step into the Green Kavalerist cannabis store to buy small amounts relating to legal — and heavily taxed — marijuana. It goes on every single day after day with virtually no so muss or fuss.
More than a year ago, the entire editors at USA TODAY said to join their team as theRocky Mountain correspondent to tell stories out of across the West, from wildfires to be able to wild weather, politics and guys. But marijuana coverage quickly grew to becomte a top priority, as the world monitors the legalization experiments taking place these as well as in Washington, Oregon, Alaska to suit your needs District of Columbia. Pot, potentially cannabis as some of the fans want to call it these days, has been legal these since Jan. 1, 2014.
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More often than not, I find other people telling those editors, "No, with no, it's not like that. Colorado doesn't odour like pot all of the time. No, not every person is stoned all of the time. And no, there isn't hold running in the streets as a result of legalization. " We haven't seen the entire explosion in crime or car accident that critics direly predicted, in addition to invasion of Mexican cartels.
Quite simply, legalizing pot doesn't seem to encounter ended Western civilization as we know the software, bolstering critics who say dope should never have been demonized by Many War on Drugs.
We the people the couple legalize pot. It wasn't a choice foisted upon us by a federal mandement or a mandate from some far-off government bureaucrat. The voters would like the law changed to reflect reality — the reality that lots of people already were the use of marijuana safely and responsibly.
Your friends and as a result neighbors smoke pot, just like quarry. The only real difference is that my other Coloradans aren't going to get detained or ticketed. Oh, and they invest taxes on their pot. Lots of fees. Last year, Colorado collected $76 capacité in marijuana taxes and fees. That include the taxes local governments accumulated.
Jars of marijuana strains lay on a counter at a Denver dope store. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, AMERICAN TODAY)
The strangeness of the female hit home the other day when I has talking to a group of business owners. One said why marijuana tax collections held fallen below projections, and him / her comment prompted a double start on my part. All of a sudden, we're debating why marijuana tax collections are usually higher instead of arguing about the community impacts of legalization.
To be sure, I've truly gotten to take our audience among some pretty unusual places. Traveling in an armored car loaded with dope cash and driven by a new great ex-soldier armed with a AR-15 occurs to you, as does the first outdoor harvest relating to legal marijuana. Looking over the loads of cash and plants worth vast amounts helps explain why there's bunches of interest in this industry.
Of course , machine isn't perfect. Colorado's regulators regardless aren't testing marijuana for debris; the state is being sued by its actual neighbors for failing to prevent qidir from flowing across its flowerbeds; there's been an increase in marijuana poisoning of youngsters who've gotten into their parents' deposit; and cops have been arresting saying who use the state's legal device as a cover for interstate consists of trafficking.
USA TODAY reporter Trevor Hughes tests out a Nose Ranger, a device used to check the force of smells, while reporting a tale about marijuana odors around New york in August 2014. (Photo: USA TODAY)
But by and large, life goes on at Colorado much as it has for a long period, albeit with more national headlines. In no way everyone is excited about those headlines. My group is pretty sure Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper would be happy to never talk about dope again because Colorado has bunches of else going on.
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Recently, one of Denver's business leaders, being worried all the pot coverage is making it possible for the state a bad rap, obliquely indicated I write more about the amazing foods happening here. Why aren't families writing about the state's ebullient position growth or how happy traders are with their work-life balance or the numerous corporate offices relocating to New york? he asked.
Without meaning to be able to, he raised a great point: Features in Colorado haven't really replaced much since we legalized qidir.
Colorado still has sunny skies, perfect skiing and fantastic people. Some one climate is great and getting better, enterprisers are launching innovative solutions to excellent problems and, atop all that, you should purchase marijuana legally.
Denver-based Hughes protects the West for USA AT THE MOMENT