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Grower Steve Jenkins checks out his marijuana plants at the BotanaCare marijuana store ahead of its grand opening on New Year’s Day in Northglenn, Colo.
Colorado has gone to pot.
Marijuana mavens from Denver to Durango rejoiced Wednesday as Rocky Mountain high became a reality and the state became the first in the nation to allow retail sale of ganja for recreational use.
Sean Azzariti of Denver, a former Marine who fought in Iraq before becoming a pot legalization activist, laid claim to the first legal hemp purchase.
Brennan Linsley/AP
An employee weighs retail marijuana to be packaged and sold at 3D Cannabis Center in Denver on Tuesday. The pot is barred from government property.
But even before Azzariti made history, pot lovers were firing up their bongs and preparing to party.
“Honestly, I thought I’d never see the day,” Errin Reaume, who had been toking up at a “Prohibition Is Over” party in downtown Denver, told reporters.
Pot purchasers began camping outside dope dispensaries long before the clock ticked 2014 and kicked off what the locals are calling “Green Wednesday.”
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Various marijuana strains are prepared for sale at the BotanaCare in Northglenn. Skeptics fear the sales will fuel addiction problems.
While the crowds were largely mellow, extra cops were deployed outside the stores to prevent any outbreaks of reefer madness.
It remains to be seen whether the great pot push will spark a statewide run on Doritos.
Colorado voters decided in 2012 that it was high time to legalize what had been an ever-growing underground industry.
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Marijuana is prepped for BotanaCare’s grand opening. Signs have gone up at Denver International Airport cautioning fliers not to attempt carrying marijuana in their suitcases.
Pot advocates argued successfully that the long-running global drug war was a costly bust and that legalizing hemp would fatten state coffers.
“Adults have been buying marijuana around this country for years,” said Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project. “The only difference is that in Colorado they will now buy it from legitimate businesses instead of the underground market.”
To undermine the black market and ensure quality contol, Colorado officials put into place a sophisticated plant-tracking system and set packaging, labeling and testing requirements.
Brennan Linsley/AP
The Justice Department has warned the state to keep the drug out of the hands of minors and criminals. Employee Lara Herzog trims away leaves from pot plants at Medicine Man marijuana dispensary in Denver.
They also outlined potency limits for edible pot.
Though marijuana is still illegal under federal law, the Justice Department weighed in with an eight-point memo further requiring Colorado to keep pot out of the hands of minors and criminal cartels and off government property.
Signs also went up at Denver International Airport warning fliers they can’t take the drug home in their suitcases.
“We understand that Colorado is under a microscope,” attorney Jack Finlaw, who is Gov. John Hickenlooper’s chief pot adviser, said before the head shops opened.
Skeptics continued to argue that retail pot sales would be a disaster for Colorado.
“This is just throwing gas on the fire,” said Ben Cort of the Colorado Center for Dependency, Addiction & Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Hospital.
— With News Wire Services
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