{"id":803663,"date":"2020-01-30T18:40:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T01:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=378269"},"modified":"2020-01-30T18:40:02","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T01:40:02","slug":"dillon-considers-allowing-marijuana-lounges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/dillon-considers-allowing-marijuana-lounges\/","title":{"rendered":"Dillon considers allowing marijuana lounges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dillon is considering allowing established marijuana facilities in town open cannabis lounges. <\/strong>
Summit Daily file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

DILLON \u2014 The town of Dillon is considering moving forward with efforts to open the area\u2019s first marijuana consumption lounge, which would give residents and visitors the opportunity to purchase and consume cannabis at the same location.<\/p>\n

In May 2019, Gov. Jared Polis signed a new bill into law that allows local jurisdictions to opt in to new marijuana regulations \u2014 namely the development of marijuana hospitality establishments, where patrons would be able to gather to smoke or otherwise consume cannabis legally and socially.<\/p>\n

While the new law went into effect at the turn of the New Year, municipalities around the state have largely been hesitant to jump on board with the concept, including here in Summit County where Silverthorne has already started the opt-out process<\/a> and Breckenridge continues to carefully mull over their options<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though, there is movement on a potential consumption lounge in the county. At the most recent Dillon Town Council meeting last week, officials and staff discussed the idea and decided to move forward in conversations with stakeholders in the area, including dispensary owners looking to take advantage of the new law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re obviously passionate about the plant,\u201d said Aaron Bluse, CEO and co-owner of Altitude Organic Cannabis in Dillon, who presented council with a concept for his own bud-bar late last year. \u201cWe believe in it in all forms and facets \u2014 adult and recreational, medical, industrial with regard to help. What we\u2019re looking at in particular with this subject is normalizing something that should already be normalized. What I mean by that is we have multitudes of places to consume alcohol in a responsible and safe manner. Within Summit County, and why it would work so well in our community, is there are no safe places to responsibly consume cannabis in a legal setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to other topics the council will consider \u2014 such as additional revenue, parking and the potential to draw more cannabis tourists to town \u2014 safety will undoubtedly emerge as one of the biggest concerns among community members and officials as conversations into the idea continue. In addition to ongoing efforts from law enforcement in the area to cut into the number of DUIs<\/a> and crimes preceded by heavy substance use, some are also concerned with officer safety.<\/p>\n

Dillon Police Chief Mark Heminghous said that he didn\u2019t have any strong feelings either way in regard to a potential cannabis lounge, but he did voice some general concerns about his officers possibly being forced into contact with marijuana smoke or vapor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an interesting concept,\u201d Heminghous said. \u201cIt\u2019s another change in the law that I never really thought I\u2019d be discussing. When I started 26 years ago, I never thought it would reach this point. \u2026 I do have general concerns. If there is anything that\u2019s still ingestible in the air, then I have concerns when we go in to do a bar check. Being in that atmosphere as an officer could definitely pose some health risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about health concerns, Bluse noted that the lounge would be fitted with an air filtration system to help keep smoke out of the air and anybody not actively consuming their products sober.<\/p>\n

Similarly, any lounges also would have other safety standards in place, such as established limits for sales \u2014 less than 1 gram of flower, one-quarter gram of concentrate, 10 or less milligrams of THC in edibles \u2014 so that patrons would be able to easily monitor their consumption. Bluse noted he also was hoping to brush aside the \u201chippy lounge\u201d or \u201cdorm basement\u201d aesthetic often associated with marijuana use for something more professional.<\/p>\n

Bluse feels simply providing a space for marijuana users will make things safer for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the most common questions we get,\u201d Bluse said. \u201cPeople come in, and they\u2019re excited, and they ask questions about all the different ways to consume. And then they ask, \u2018where can I consume this?\u2019 We don\u2019t have a good answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in the mountains, that\u2019s national forest land. You can\u2019t smoke in the parks or in public, and we\u2019ll never advise anyone doing it in or around their vehicles. It\u2019s something that\u2019s usually not allowed in any hotel, and you\u2019ll get a fine because of it. When you look at the options that are present, while it\u2019s easily available to purchase and possess, this is the missing link for a disenfranchised part of the community \u2014 those that prefer cannabis over alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the meeting last week, the concept was met with mixed feedback. The council agreed that if any lounges were to move forward, they\u2019d be restricted to any of the town\u2019s three existing retail marijuana licensed facilities. Councilors Kyle Hendricks and Renee Imamura said they weren\u2019t interested in moving forward with the idea in any capacity, though the majority voiced interest in continuing to develop the concept, even if it wasn\u2019t an immediate priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m open to looking at it and continuing to move forward with it just to see,\u201d Mayor Carolyn Skowyra said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to be married to the idea. But I think it\u2019s still worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dillon is considering allowing established marijuana facilities in town open cannabis lounges. Summit Daily file photo DILLON \u2014 The town of Dillon is considering moving forward with efforts to open the area\u2019s first marijuana consumption lounge, which would give residents and visitors the opportunity to purchase and consume cannabis at the same location. In May […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-803663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 03:38:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}