Colorado lawmakers have backed away from a plan to legalize social cannabis clubs statewide following disapproval voiced by Gov. John Hickenlooper, who said that the move could attract a crackdown from the Trump Administration, according to an Associated Press report.
The proposal originated in the Colorado Senate, where it was approved last month with bipartisan support, but House lawmakers ultimately turned down the measure.
Gov. Hickenlooper said last month that he would veto any cannabis club measure allowing indoor smoking that came across his desk, arguing that “given the uncertainty in Washington … this is not the year to be out there carving off new turf and expand markets and make dramatic statements about marijuana.”
There are currently an estimated 30 cannabis clubs active in Colorado, all of which exist as private clubs operating under a patchwork of local laws.
The social use measure would have been the first statewide acceptance of social cannabis clubs.
The legislature’s retreat, however, demonstrates the uncertainty felt by lawmakers in legalized states about the Trump Administration, who has so far refrained from making a firm statement one way or another about its stance on the cannabis legalization laws that have been passed in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, California, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, and Washington D.C.
Colorado lawmakers passed a measure earlier this month to ban cooperative cannabis grows in the state, which had allowed people to assist others in the home-growing of cannabis.