Pot Luck

From Yahoo:

"Legal recreational pot industry opens in Colorado"

Crowds were serenaded by live music as they waited for the nation's first legal recreational pot shops to open. They ate doughnuts and funnel cakes as a glass-blower made smoking pipes. Some tourists even rode around in a limo, eager to try weed but not so eager to be seen buying it. And when the sales began, those who bought the drug emerged from the stores, receipt held high and carrying sealed shopping bags, to cheers. "I'm going to frame the receipt when I go home, to remind myself of what might be possible: Legal everywhere," said musician James Aaron Ramsey, 28, who did some time in jail for pot possession in Missouri and played folk tunes with his guitar for those in line. Activists hope he's right, and that the experiment in Colorado will prove to be a better alternative to the costly American-led drug war, produce the kind of revenue that state officials hope and save the government costs in locking up drug offenders. Just on the first day, prices in some places rose to more than $500 an ounce, and some shops announced midafternoon they would close early because of short supply. It's too soon to say whether the price spikes and long lines will persist. Washington state will open its pot industry later this year. Both states' programs will be watched closely not just by officials in other states, but by activists and governments in other countries because the industries will be the first to regulate the production and sale of the drug. Some countries have decriminalized the drug, and the Netherlands lets people buy and sell it, but it's illegal to grow or process it. Just as shops opened Wednesday, the Denver Police Department tweeted, "Do you know the law?" and linked to city websites on state and local laws that include bans on public consumption, driving under the influence, taking marijuana out of state and giving pot to anyone under 21. Denver police said one person was issued a summons for public consumption. The Colorado State Patrol reported no pot-related incidents. No pot-related incidents were reported at Denver International Airport, where signs warned travelers that they can't take the drug home. At least 24 pot shops in eight towns opened. In Denver, pot users welcomed the new year and the new industry by firing up bongs and cheering in a cloud of marijuana smoke at a 1920s-themed "Prohibition Is Over" party — a reference to the 1930s-era law that outlawed marijuana. The U.S. Justice Department outlined an eight-point slate of priorities for pot regulation, requiring states to keep the drug away from minors, criminal cartels, federal property and other states in order to avoid a federal crackdown. With the additional police patrols, the airport warnings and various other measures, officials hoped they have enough safeguards in place to avoid predictions of public health and safety harm from the opening of the pot shops. Some medical marijuana patients groups say they're worried about supply. That's because the retail inventory for recreational use is coming entirely from the preexisting medical inventory. Many in the industry warned patients to stock up before the sales began. It was too soon to tell whether prices for medical marijuana patients were going up. For now, they should have plenty of places to shop. Most of Colorado's 500 or so medical marijuana shops haven't applied to sell recreational pot, and many that have plan to serve both recreational and medical patients

^ I have relatives and friends that live in Colorado and do not understand how the state can allow pot to be sold and consumed for medical and non-medical reasons and yet homosexuals can't marry there. I believe medical marijuana should be legal in every state, but think it's too early to let everyone be able to buy and use it. I'm sure many people will get arrested with it at airports (TSA is Federal) and in neighboring states. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/legal-recreational-pot-industry-opens-colorado-150209553.html