Colorado marijuana laws and ski holidays: what's the score on the slopes?

Over 21? You can now grow your own Cannabis in Colorado Photo: Breckenridge Cannabis Club

Hit the slopes in Colorado these days, and you could be forgiven for thinking

there are pot sellers on every corner, clouds of smoke on every chairlift,

and cheeky side orders of grass available with every coffee.

Rest easy folks – or prepare for disappointment – this is no rainbow-coloured,

giggling free for all, but a strictly controlled and heavily taxed

legalisation.

The passing of Amendment 64 to the Colorado Constitution, following a ballot

of Colorado voters in 2012, means that licensed shops – aka dispensaries –

in the state can sell cannabis products from grass and resin to fizzy drinks

and lotions. Adults 21 and over can grow their own, and buy and possess up

to an ounce. Tourists are allowed to buy up to a quarter of an ounce.

So far, so free, and recreational cannabis is available all over Colorado,

including in (or within a taxi ride of) the ski resorts of Breckenridge,

Telluride, Crested Butte, Vail and Aspen, among others.

But the snag is, once you’ve got it, where to use it?

The only place it’s clearly allowed is in a private home, with the owner’s

permission. It’s banned in the shops or anywhere in public – including on

chairlifts, in the smoking areas of bars or in the not-so-secret “smoke

shacks” in the woods around many resorts.

There are no coffee shops or social clubs, and even a quick toke on a private

balcony is risky since these too can be considered public.

Some hotels may permit cannabis in smoking-authorised bedrooms, and some

private lodgings, eg on airbnb, advertise “420-friendly” rooms –

named for the American pot-smokers slang.

The shops still did a booming trade last season though, with queues down the

snowy street at places like the Breckenridge

Cannabis Club.

And according to industry group Colorado Ski Country USA, the state had a

record number of ski visits in 2013/14 – 12.6 million, up 10 per cent from

2012/13 – though the organisation puts this down to great snow and

facilities rather than the lure of marijuana.

Breckenridge Cannabis Club opened on Main Street in Breckenridge in 2009,

following the legalisation of marijuana for medical use, and started selling

recreational weed during the 2014 season. “Pre-rolled joints are extremely

popular due to their ready to go nature,” says co-owner Caitlin McGuire,

“but it’s hard to pick one favourite smokeable product as everyone has their

own personal preference.”

^{The Breckenridge Cannabis Club, modelling puntastic t-shirts that read “Highagain”}

An ounce costs $246.55 after taxes are added, $200 pre-tax. But, as McGuire,

explains, “This is what you see on your receipt, there’s an additional

excise tax of 15 per cent that gets paid at the wholesale level. When you

consider this you realise 38.275 per cent of the money you spent on

marijuana was on taxes.”

There are now similar rules and licensed shops in Washington state, home to

ski resorts such as Mount Baker, after buying for recreational use was

legalised in July.

So, can you ski stoned? Well, according to the Denver Post, ski resorts differ

on how strict they are going to be with regards to stoned skiers and

snowboarders – but Amendment 64 strictly forbids marijuana consumption “In

a manner that endangers others”, which it could be argued applies to

hitting the hill while high. Plus there’s a Colorado Ski Safety Act that

states you can be fined up to $1,000 if caught on a lift or ski run while “under

the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance, or other drug.”

Your best bet to avoid getting arrested or fined is to consume your stash

inside a private residence, with the express permission of the owner, and

wait for the effects to wear off before you head for the ski lift. Rock ‘n’

roll.

Source

Colorado marijuana laws and ski holidays: what's the score on the slopes?