{"id":2452419,"date":"2019-12-19T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=317889"},"modified":"2019-12-19T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-19T21:00:00","slug":"high-country-the-marijuana-milestones-of-the-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/high-country-the-marijuana-milestones-of-the-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"High Country: The Marijuana Milestones of the Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Nov. 7, 2000, 54% of Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, making medical marijuana legal statewide. The progress made across the state during the 10 years that followed undoubtedly laid the groundwork for recreational legalization, but the 2010s will go down in history as the decade of cannabis.<\/p>\n

Aspen has embraced counterculture long before legalization was a believable reality and when the floodgates finally opened for adult-use retailers in 2014, the downtown core soon became the state\u2019s highest density of dispensaries per capita (there are now eight currently in business); in 2017, the city became the first in the country where cannabis outpaced alcohol sales (to the tune of $11.3 million).<\/p>\n

So as we head into what\u2019s already been coined \u201cthe Blazing \u201920s,\u201d High Country is looking back at the most major moments that\u2019ve carved out our cannabis community:<\/p>\n

2010<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 Aspen plays host to the first Cannabis Crown<\/a> \u2014 Colorado\u2019s version of the long-running Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam. The two-day event drew thousands of activists and enthusiasts to town, but burnt out after its second edition<\/a> in 2011. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Basalt\u2019s first medical marijuana dispensary, the now-defunct Basalt Alternative Medicine, opens for business<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Applications for Colorado\u2019s medical marijuana registry quadruple compared to 2009<\/a>, with the state\u2019s health department receiving about 1,000 MMJ patient applications per workday.<\/span><\/p>\n

2011<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 Alpine Bank\u2019s lawsuit against Basalt-based Alpine Dank for trademark violation and other federal claims, alleging the marijuana dispensary created confusion in the marketplace, is quietly dismissed<\/a> in the U.S. District Court of Denver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signs changes into law<\/a> for the nation\u2019s most exhaustive medical marijuana regulations, including a moratorium on new medical dispensaries through 2012 and a caregiver registry, along with more lenient residency requirements for dispensary employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Acting on advice from its attorney, who said \u201cadopting medical marijuana regulations would put county employees in the position of abetting the violation of federal drug laws,\u201d Pitkin County commissioners unanimously voted to drop implementing its own medical marijuana regulations.<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

2012<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 After much pondering for local regulations<\/a>, licensing procedures for medical marijuana businesses in Pitkin County win final approval<\/a> by county commissioners.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Amendment 64, which was passed by voters<\/a> on Nov. 6, makes Colorado the second state after Washington to allow the use of marijuana without a doctor\u2019s recommendation. <\/span><\/p>\n

2013<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 The Denver Post appoints Ricardo Baca as the first-ever marijuana editor<\/a> at a major newspaper and launches a dedicated news and culture vertical, The Cannabist. Baca said farewell<\/a> in 2016 and a year later, ongoing layoffs caused the site to cease publication in 2018. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Pitkin County commissioners establish recreational retail marijuana rules and regulations by officially passing an ordinance<\/a> that makes the clerk and recorder the county\u2019s licensing authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The city of Aspen outlines recommendations<\/a> for City Council concerning local retail marijuana businesses such as prohibiting consumption at private \u201cpot clubs\u201d and regulating marijuana much like alcohol.<\/span><\/p>\n

2014<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 Adult-use cannabis sales go into effect on Jan. 1 and on March 5, Stash and Silverpeak become the first two stores<\/a> in Aspen to sell recreational marijuana, which is deemed an overall success. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Despite Amendment 64 passing 72% to 28% by voters, Snowmass Village extends its moratorium<\/a> on marijuana dispensaries until 2017. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Katie Couric interviews Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper for a \u201cWhat\u2019s the Dope on Pot?\u201d session during the Aspen Ideas Festival.<\/a> He stated, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be one of the great social experiments of the century.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Basalt Town Council chills out on cannabis<\/a> and unanimously approves an ordinance establishing rules for medical marijuana dispensaries and ending its moratorium.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo leads the charge in creating the Valley Marijuana Council \u2014 a coalition aimed to educate the community about the new legal cannabis industry<\/a> \u2014 and implements an \u201camnesty box\u201d at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport for the safe disposal of leftover marijuana products. <\/span><\/p>\n

2015<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 The Chabad Jewish Community Center launches \u201cArt with Mary Jane\u201d cannabis-infused painting classes<\/a>, which city officials immediately nixed due to lack of approval and public consumption regulations. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Silverpeak\u2019s High Valley Farm causes a stink<\/a>, ultimately enlisting the Pitkin County Environmental Health Department to control its third-party odor monitoring program<\/a> to assuage the concerns of its neighbors. The two-year skunk-smelling saga cost its owners seven figures and ended two years later.<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Leadville-based cannabis chain RootsRx becomes Aspen\u2019s seventh dispensary<\/a> in the downtown core and Basalt\u2019s first recreational store.<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

2016<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 Longtime local Michael Gurtman trades meatballs for marijuana and receives approval for Aspen\u2019s eighth dispensary<\/a>, Best Day Ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 City Council takes a long-overdue<\/a>, first-ever field trip to a dispensary<\/a> \u201cso elected officials would have a better understanding of how the store\u2019s operations and services work.\u201d (Then-Mayor Steve Skadron forgot his ID and was turned away!)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Original Leaf dispensary in downtown Aspen gets sued<\/a> for defaulting on more than $2 million in loans and closes for business. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Aspen sells nearly $10 million in pot<\/a>, almost $1.4 million more than 2015\u2019s total of $8.35 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

2017<\/span><\/p>\n

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New legal marijuana comes in candy style treats<\/strong>
Getty Images\/iStockphoto | iStockphoto<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u2022 Colorado cannabis safety regulators limit edible shapes and enlarge potency labels<\/a> to avoid candy confusion among children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Snowmass Town Council extends its marijuana moratorium<\/a> \u2026 again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The long-running Aspen Live conferences taps the Arcview Group, a leading members-only marijuana investor network, to present Aspen High <\/a>\u2014 a prequel track of programming to examine the intersection of the cannabis and live music industries. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Aspen School District lands a $250,000 state grant<\/a> from marijuana taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Aspen marijuana shops sell $11.3 million in 2017<\/a>, topping liquor stores for the first time. Colorado medical and recreational cannabis sales hit a record $1.5 billion<\/a> for the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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2018<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2022 The Aspen Times Weekly\u2019s \u201cHigh Country\u201d becomes the first-ever dedicated cannabis column in the Roaring Fork Valley. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws founder Keith Stroup presents Anita Thompson with a Special Appreciation Award from the NORML board of directors during the 13th annual Aspen Legal Seminar. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Denver-based dispensary chain Euflora acquires Stash with The Green Joint opening soon-after in the same building. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 The new federal farm bill passes, shifting hemp from classification as a controlled substance<\/a> to a crop regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, states and tribes.<\/span><\/p>\n

2019<\/h2>\n
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\u2022 Cannabis makes culinary history<\/a> at the Food & Wine Classic. For the first time in its 37 years, festival organizers welcomed two CBD companies into the Grand Tasting Pavilion as official exhibitors. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 After a five-year moratorium, Snowmass Village town officials unanimously approved<\/a> its first-ever marijuana dispensary, which opened its doors<\/a> on December 14. As the third location in the area, High Q is locally owned by Ren\u00e9e Grossman. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Colorado\u2019s cannabis businesses collectively sell more than $6 billion<\/a> worth of weed (and related products) since the adult-use marijuana measure took effect on January 1, 2014. <\/span><\/p>\n

Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com<\/a> and followed on Twitter @bykatieshapiro<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Nov. 7, 2000, 54% of Colorado voters approved Amendment 20, making medical marijuana legal statewide. The progress made across the state during the 10 years that followed undoubtedly laid the groundwork for recreational legalization, but the 2010s will go down in history as the decade of cannabis. Aspen has embraced counterculture long before legalization […]<\/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":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 01:29:40","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}